


You Belong With Me

by Bakubitch



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, High School, High School Rivalry, Jock Rey, Nerd Ben, Super Smart Ben, Super Smart Rey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-26
Updated: 2018-11-10
Packaged: 2019-05-28 23:25:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 52,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15060089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bakubitch/pseuds/Bakubitch
Summary: “She wears short skirts, I wear T-shirts, she’s cheer captain and I’m on the bleachers!”With earphones jammed in her ears, Rey sings at the top of her voice and pushes the heavy lawnmower against the overgrown grassland that is her back yard. Maz, her foster mom, had told Rey that “if she didn’t get off her lazy ass and do something productive, she would get her phone confiscated for the next month.” So, here she is: sweating profusely in the smallest pair of shorts she could find, trying her damn hardest to cut down the grass that hasn’t been mowed in like, ten freakin’ years.A nerdy Ben Solo moves in next door to Rey. She doesn't like him. Shedoesn’t.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Here we go again folks!!! 
> 
> I hope you enjoy the first chapter. 
> 
> (Also, don't think i've forgotten about Rey and Her Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Year, because I haven't! Last chapter is half way done, but I'll keep you updated on updates)

_“She wears short skirts, I wear T-shirts, she’s cheer captain and I’m on the bleachers!”_

With earphones jammed in her ears, Rey sings at the top of her voice and pushes the heavy lawnmower against the overgrown grassland that is her back yard. Maz, her foster mom, had told Rey that  _“if she didn’t get off her lazy ass and do something productive, she would get her phone confiscated for the next month.”_  So, here she is: sweating profusely in the smallest pair of shorts she could find, trying her damn hardest to cut down the grass that hasn’t been mowed in like,  _ten freakin’ years._

Wrapping the lawnmower cord around her neck like it’s a feathery boa and she’s in a 1920’s music video, she belt’s out,  _“You belong with meeeee!”_   

Admittedly, perhaps a singing career isn’t in Rey’s future.

She had stolen Finn’s iPod before term ended and was pretty surprised to see that his song choices included Taylor Swift, Katy Petty and Britney Spears – not Rey’s usual music taste, but alas, she had smashed her iPod a month ago when she lost her front door key and tried to scale the fence. She had fallen off and landed on the iPod with a resounding  _crack_ , and well, the rest is history.

Shaking her booty to the tail end of Taylor Swift’s dulcet tones, still singing with all her might, she catches a dark shape out of the corner of her eye. She swivels round on the spot, words dying in her throat and trailing off awkwardly when she sees a boy leaning against the fence in the yard next door.

Crap. Has he been there the whole time? She feels her gaze raking over his body, taking in his appearance as he glares at her moodily.

It takes Rey a minute to realize he’s talking to her.

She yanks her earbuds out. “What?”

“I  _said_ ,” the boy grows frustratedly. “Can you keep it down? I’m trying to study over here.”

“Oh,” she says, cheeks heating embarrassedly. “You heard that?”

The boy huffs out a small breath, lips quirking up at the corners. “I think the whole street heard that.”

“Right.”

They stare at each other, and Rey’s mortification escalates with every second that passes. The boy isn’t unattractive, per se, but he is sporting the grouchiest expression she’s ever seen. Finn would probably describe him as  _‘unconventionally attractive’_  – whatever that means. He’s dressed completely in black, hair to match, and Rey wonders how he’s not overcooking in this weather.

After the awkwardness has encompassed Rey’s whole being, the boy gives her a sharp nod and makes a move to head back into his house.

“Hey!” Rey calls without thinking. “Did you just move in?”

The old lady that had lived in the house next door had died a month ago. She doesn’t recall seeing a for sale sign, but then again, she hasn’t exactly left the house much over the summer.

He gives her a suspicious look. “Yesterday.” 

“Cool.” She fiddles with the cord of the lawnmower, trying to think of something to say. “Why are you studying over summer?” she asks eventually. “You’re not a nerd, are you?”

The boy turns to look at her with the single most chilling stare that Rey has ever had unleashed upon her in her life. Yikes.

“I’m studying,” he starts slowly, as if Rey is the stupidest person he’s ever met, “because I’m attending a new school.”

“So?”

“ _So_ , the school needs to determine what classes I go into.”

Rey grimaces. “That’s rough.”

“Not really.”

She’s beginning to really hate this guy’s attitude. “Well, I bet you’ll go straight into the AP classes,” she smiles, trying her best to be friendly. “You’re a senior, right?”

“And I bet you’re the head cheerleader,” he says unkindly, as if being the head cheerleader is a bad thing. He completely ignores her question.

What a freaking asshole.

Rey shrugs coyly, making him think he’s got her all figured out. In reality, he couldn’t be any further from the truth – but she isn’t going to let him know that. She’ll let him work it out himself.

“Well,” she grins. “I guess I’ll see you when school starts.”

“Whatever.” He turns around and stalks back to his house, opening the back door and slamming it shut with a loud  _thud_.

She starts up the lawnmower again, whistling away to herself. She’s never really been good at making friends, but this strange encounter takes the biscuit.

It’s not until she’s finished the yard, relaxing on her sofa with a cool lemonade, that she realizes she forgot to ask the boy’s name.

 

***

 

Rey doesn’t see the boy for the remaining days of summer, and before she knows it, school is starting up again.

She stumbles out of Poe’s car in the morning, blearily taking in the feeling of finally being a senior. This is her last year to have fun at school – she’s already got the grades she needs for the college. Rey, Poe and Finn have agreed to attend UCLA together. Although, with increasing guilt she realizes that if she pushes hard enough this year, she might have the chance to get into MIT. 

But it’s her final year.

Everyone knows senior year is time to party. She doesn’t want to waste her last year with all her friends studying.

The trio roll into school. Rey is bouncing along, happy to finally be surrounded by people again. It’s no secret that she’s had a rough childhood – her parents abandoned her in a dumpster when she was three, and she wasn’t found until a week later. No one knows how she managed to survive that long – according to social services, it was an outright miracle. Rey reckons she must have scavenged for food along the way. She’s always been a survivor.

She had been bounced from foster home to foster home until Maz had adopted her. So, it’s no surprise that she hates being alone during the summer. It’s not that she doesn’t have friends, no, but Poe goes to flight school and Finn goes to live with his grandmother in Europe.

It can get a little lonely sometimes.

Pushing her inner monologue to the side, she keys in the combination for her locker and swings the door open.

“This is going to be a good year,” Poe says, rifling through his own locker. “I can feel it.”

Rey laughs. “We’re going to make senior year our bitch.”

“What have you got first, Rey?” Finn asks. They had picked up their timetables from the office, but she already knows she won’t be in many classes with her friends.

“AP chemistry,” she replies. She has to fight back the urge to groan – Professor Threepio takes that class, and he’s a complete nightmare.

Poe winces. “Good luck.”

“I’ll need it.” She slams her locker door shut. “How are you feeling about being Captain this year?” she asks Poe.

“I’m gonna whip these little nerds into shape.”

“Um,” Rey frowns. She gestures between her and Finn. “We’re those little nerds?”

“But you’re actually decent players,” Poe says.

Rey balks. _“Decent?”_  she snaps. “I was nearly made Captain.”

“But you weren’t,” Poe grins cheekily.

“Yeah, because I turned it down!”

“Oi,” Finn shouts from halfway down the corridor. She hadn’t even noticed he had moved. “Are you two coming or what?”

 

***

 

When she walks into her AP chemistry classroom, she’s shocked to see her neighbor already sitting in the front row, hands clasped together with the same grumpy expression on his face. As he catches sight of her, however, his eyes widen slightly.

“What are you doing in this class?” he asks her when she approaches his desk.

She  _was_  going to try and be nice, but that’s that plan out of the window. “What’s it to you?”

“I just wanted to know why I’m sharing a class with the  _head cheerleader_ ,” he says with a mocking smile. “Surely you’re not smart enough to be in this class?”

Hux, who she’s just realized is sitting beside the boy, gives out a loud snort. “Rey? Head cheerleader? Are you joking?”

Great. Her neighbor has become acquainted with Hux – the worst person in this entire school.

Grumpy Gills frowns at Hux. “What?”

“She’s not head cheerleader, Ben,” Hux scoffs. “She would never have the discipline to be on the cheerleading team.”

Ben, as she’s now learned, turns his attention to her. “What are you then?”

Hux beats her to the question. “A jock? A nerd?” He looks at her, raising one perfectly sculpted eyebrow. “You haven’t quite figured it out, have you?”

Rey laughs. “Why can’t I be both?”

“It’s against the entire formation of this school.”

She rolls her eyes. “Jesus, chill out. This isn’t  _High School Musical.”_

Hux goes to snap back at her, but before he can get the sentence out, Mr. Threepio enters the classroom. “Take your seats, children,” he says, clapping his hands together.

She gives the two boys one final withering glare, before shuffling towards her chair in the back of the room. Just because she’s taking all AP classes, doesn’t mean she has to be like one of the nerds that sits down the front of the class.

Those guys are total losers.

She really doesn’t know why she expected more of Ben. Maybe it’s because she saw a glimmer into the snarkiness of his personality that makes him interesting. Maybe it’s because he chewed her out for singing along to Taylor Swift. She really doesn’t know.

She didn’t expect him to be sitting front and center with Hux, however, and the thought of him becoming one of  _those_  students leaves a bitter taste in Rey’s mouth. It’s just like Phasma all over again. Finn and Phasma had been best friends all through elementary and middle school – until they had started high school, that is. Then she had betrayed him to sit with Hux and his merry band of assholes. Now, it looks like Ben is heading in the same direction.

Oh well, another one bites the dust.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry for the long wait folks! I tried my hardest to complete the chapter before I went on holiday, but sadly I couldn't get it done on time :( and I had no wifi up north where I was, so couldn't even work on it up there :/// 
> 
> But here we are! Second chapter!

Ben is turning out to be a bit of a problem.

In addition to being in her AP Chemistry class, he’s also in AP Biology, AP Physics, AP maths _and_ English Lit with her. To make matters worse, he’s one of those smarmy gits that sticks their hand up to answer every question. Weirdly enough, however, he still manages to sit there and look suave and cool, as if he doesn’t care about the class in the slightest.

It’s safe to say that Rey is a little bit miffed about the situation. The only person in the entire school that she actively hates is in pretty much all of her classes. What kind of heinous crimes has she committed in a past life to make god do her dirty like this?

She heard from Finn, who heard from Rose, who heard from Paige, who heard from Phasma, that Ben practices calligraphy in his spare time.

Freaking _calligraphy_.

What. A. Nerd.

Regardless of Rey's hatred towards the new boy, she has to admit that she’s a little impressed by him. 

Who wouldn’t be? He’s got a GPA to rival hers, and anyone with that ability should be respected.

Despite actively trying to avoid Ben, she’s wandering along the corridors taking her sweet, sweet time to get to lunch (it’s cardboard mac and cheese day, yuck) when she overhears him and Hux talking beside the lockers. She does intend to ignore him completely, but just as she’s passing by, she hears Ben smarmily say, “– and I _do_ plan on becoming valedictorian. I’ve got the best GPA in the school.”

Oh, so he’s here for two days and now he thinks he's got the best GPA in the school?

Rey just has to say something. It would be rude not to, wouldn’t it?

“Actually,” she butts in, interrupting the conversation. “You have the _second_ best GPA in the school.”

They both turn their heads to face her, surprised expressions visible. Ben looks stunned, whereas Hux just raises a perfectly sculpted eyebrow.

“What did you say?” Ben asks.

“I said,” she replies slowly. “You have the _second best_ GPA in the school. Not the first.”

Ben huffs out an unimpressed laugh. “Is that so?”

“Indeed it is, compadre.”

“Right.”

He looks at her intensely, with his eyes raking over every little detail of her face. His gaze makes the hairs on her arms stand upright and she can feel her heart stutter in her chest. She has to physically _will_ herself not to blush under the attention.

“Okay, I’m out,” Hux says, holding his hands up in the air and interrupting the tense moment. He turns and swiftly walks away, leaving Ben and Rey all alone in the near-empty corridor.

“So,” Ben starts. “I assume you think you have the better GPA?”

“I do.”

“And I assume, therefore, that you want to be valedictorian?”

She really does _not_ want to be valedictorian.

“I sure do,” she replies chirpily.

He gives her a flat look. “ _You_ want to be valedictorian?”

“Yes.”

“What about soccer?”

“I can be valedictorian _and_ play soccer you know,” she says, rolling her eyes. “Again, this isn’t _High School Musical_.”

“If you’re at soccer practice all the time, you can’t dedicate the time and effort needed to be valedictorian,” Ben says smugly. “So, looks like you lose.”

She balks.

Lose? Freaking _lose_? Rey does not _lose_.

“It is _on_ , Ben Solo.”

Ben looks her dead in the eye. “I will crush you.”

She steps forward, getting all up into his personal bubble. “Bring it.”

“Oh, it’s being brought.”

Rey snorts loudly. “Your trash talk sucks, dude.”

Realizing how close they’ve gotten, she swaggers backwards until she’s out of his vicinity, desperately wanting to create some distance from him. She gives him a mock salute and winks at him exaggeratedly, watching with delight as his ears take on a pinkish tint. Turning around and walking away, she throws a “See you in English Lit,” over her shoulder.

She’ll teach him not to underestimate her.

 

***

 

Ten minutes later, she slams her lunch tray down on the table, making Poe and Finn startle. When she sits down, she notices Ben stalk through the door, and she glares at him until he sits down himself. He definitely catches her look, because he gives her a slow smirk from across the lunch hall.

“What’s up with you?” Finn asks.

“Ben Solo.” 

Poe shoots her a puzzled look. “The new kid?”

“Yes,” she says through gritted teeth.

“What did he do?”

“He _exists_ ,” Rey seethes.

She grips her fork tighter when she realizes he’s still watching her from his lunch table. Still smirking at her. With his stupid cute hair. And his terrible face.

That smug asshole.

“Rey?”

Fingers are clicking in front of her face.

She snaps back to reality with a start, turning to face her friends with her eyebrows raised expectantly. “What?”

“You were gawking,” Finn says. “At the new boy.”

Rey rolls her eyes. “I know.”

“Umm,” Poe hums out, “do you like him or something?”

“No!” Rey splutters, fork falling out of her hand. She gawks at her friends openly, confused as to why they would think she likes Ben. When they raise their eyebrows expectantly, she says, “Of course not.”

Finn gives her a skeptical look. “We wouldn’t blame you. He’s easy on the eyes.”

Before Rey can jump into defense mode, Rose skips into her line of sight. She slides her lunch tray onto the table beside Finn and Paige Tico, her sister, follows behind quickly.

“Hello fellow students,” Paige grins, standing in front of the group. “Can I count on your vote for Prom Queen?”

Everyone groans.

“Oh my god, Paige, can you not?” Rose snaps. “We’re two days into the semester.”

Paige grumbles under her breath but sits down beside Rey anyway.

“We’re actually discussing Rey’s love life right now,” Finn says, twirling his fork around his hands with a sly smirk.

Rose gasps as she unpacks her lunch from her lunchbox. “Who’s the lucky boy?”

Rey says, “No one,” at the same time as Poe says, “The new kid.”

“Ben Solo?” Paige scoffs, delicately scooping a spoonful of yogurt into her mouth. The group waits with anticipation for a further comment as she finishes eating. “You won’t get him into a relationship,” she says eventually.

Rey frowns. “Why not?”

Her attempt at nonchalance fails if the looks her friends shoot her are anything to go by.

“I thought you didn’t like him?” Poe asks smugly.

“I _don’t_ ,” she says. “He’s an asshole.”

Paige claps her hands together, watching her attentively. “Well, I heard from Phasma that Ben has never dated anyone before,” she says. “Apparently he just wants to focus on his grades and get into the best college.”

“I heard he already had offers from the best colleges,” Rose interjects.

Poe snorts out a laugh. “Do you think he’s gay?”

“Why?” Finn shoots back immediately (and a little defensively, if you ask Rey). “You interested?”

His interrogation is rewarded with a strange look from Poe. “Um, no?” he says. Although, it sounds more like a question.

While her friends snap at each other, Rey looks over towards the table Ben is sitting at. She’s expecting to find his smug face staring at her, but he’s not there. She reckons he’s probably gone to the library to study, or something equally as lame.

“Why are you so interested anyway?” Paige asks her.

“He’s just moved in next door,” Rey grumbles, “and he gave me into trouble for singing along to Taylor Swift.”

The group share a similar glance before bursting into hysterical laughter.

“It’s not funny!” she cries. “Ben Solo is an utter asshole.” The groups laughter dies off quickly, but she’s too wrapped up in her rant to care. “He’s the worst kind of person – a smug bastard who thinks he’s too good for everyone else around him.” Poe makes a theatrical throat cutting motion across from her, but she pays him no notice. “And also, he’s really not as smart as he thinks he is,” she continues scathingly. “I saw him mix up structural isomers and geometric isomers yesterday. I mean, how stupid can one person be?”

Someone clears their throat from behind her.

She frowns when she sees Poe and Finn with their heads in their hands. “What–”

“I’m glad to hear that’s what you really think of me.”

Turning her head around to face the speaker, she gapes when she catches sight of the very boy she’s just been bitching about.

“Oh, hello Ben,” she winces. “What are the chances that you didn’t hear a word of that?”

Ben gives her a flat look. “Very slim.”

She hears Poe whispering “yikes,” from behind her.

“I’m sorry,” Rey tells him sincerely, “but you can’t deny we didn’t get off to the best start.”

“No, we didn’t,” he says, crossing his arms over his chest protectively. “And just so you know, effective immediately I will be doubling my efforts to become valedictorian.”

She gapes at him for a good minute before she can compose herself enough to respond. “Well, so will I.”

He looks at her like she’s a piece of shit he’s just stepped on. “Well, may the best man win.”

“Or, may the best woman win.”

He scoffs mockingly, a slight upturned tilt to his mouth that Rey can’t help but stare at. “No, I don’t think so.”

He walks away without a backwards glance, and she watches him breeze through the doors. She has to hang off the back of her seat so she can follow his dramatic exit.  

She whistles slowly, turning around to face her friends again. “Man, he is an asshole.”

“Actually, Rey,” Rose grimaces, playing with her food. “I think you were the asshole there.”

“ _What_? No I wasn’t.”

“You really were,” Poe grins. “I’ve never seen this side of you. I like it.”

Rey jumps up from her seat, really not in the mood to sit and chat around now. “I don’t know what it is,” she snaps, shouldering her rucksack. “He just gets on my nerves.”

“Hey,” Finn says soothingly. “It’s okay. You don’t need to like him.”

“You’ll hardly see him,” Poe adds. “You can just avoid him for the rest of the year and then you’ll never have to see him again.”

“I guess,” she says, scooping up her things from the table. “I’m going to go to the library and study for the rest of lunch.”

 _“Study?”_ Paige gapes. “Why? It’s only the second day of class!”

 “I’m going to be valedictorian.”

“No you’re not.”

There’s disbelief written all over Poe’s face, which Rey really doesn’t like.

“I am.”

“You are?”

“Yes!” Rey snaps. “I’m going to beat that smug asshole and show him he can’t mess with me.”

Finn and Poe share a similar glance.

“You’re still going to play soccer, right?” Poe asks. “You can’t quit the team. We need you.”

“Of course I am.”

She stalks off without another word.

 

***

 

Unlike Poe’s words of wisdom, Rey sees Ben _everywhere_.

That night, after she finishes soccer practice, she comes home and dumps all of her stuff unceremoniously onto her bed. She’s just about to pull her soccer top over her head, desperate to get out of her sweaty clothes, when she catches sight out of her window into the opposite house.

Ben freaking Solo is doing pull ups with a book in his hand.

He’s reading. While working out.

Is this boy actually insane?

She had no idea his window was across from hers – the whole summer the curtains had been drawn, so this is the first time she’s seen into his bedroom. She takes in his room from her safe distance, seeing the stacks of books on his bookcase, the empty plastic bottles littered around his room and the freaking _calligraphy_ set that everyone has been rambling on about so much.

Her gaze finally wanders back to Ben, and she watches with fascination as the muscles in his back ripple with every pull up.

She notices, for the first time, that there’s loud music blaring from his room. She thinks it might be some sort of rock band, but she can’t quite make out the lyrics. Remembering exactly how their first encounter went, she marches over to her window and throws it open, leaning her head out as far as possible.

He’s not getting to play his stupid emo music when she wasn’t even allowed to sing along to Taylor Swift in her freaking _back yard._

“Hey!” she shouts loudly, waving her arms wildly in the air to get his attention.

He doesn’t turn around.

For fuck sake. With the music that loud, he’s never going to be able to hear her.

Feeling both deflated and defeated, she’s about to turn around and go back inside when an idea springs to her mind. A terrible, stupid, extremely bad idea, but an idea nonetheless. She swings her legs over the windowsill and jumps carefully onto the small rooftop under her window. There’s a huge tree bang in the middle both of their gardens – said tree had been the root cause of most of the arguments between her family and the old neighbor. They couldn’t put the fence up properly because of it, so now the two houses have uneven sides of the yard. It probably also didn’t help that Rey used to swing from it at every opportunity, and the old lady next door used to swear at her from her window.

 _But she’s not here to tell me off anymore_ , Rey thinks gleefully.

Maybe she should have some respect – the old bag had just died, after all.

Oh well, too late to turn back now. She manoeuvres herself onto the tree until she’s firmly gripping two of the top branches, and then she shuffles herself along slowly until she reaches Ben’s part of the roof. She jumps on, wincing when a loud bang follows. She’s fully expecting him to turn around and call her out for being a creepy stalker, but he’s still doing pull ups when she peers through his window.

Rey chaps delicately at first, feeling weird about staring at someone’s sweaty back as they work out.

He doesn’t turn around.

Fucking hell, how many pull ups can one boy _do_?

She chaps louder. Still nothing.

Getting increasingly frustrated, she slams her hand against the window, hard enough that a loud _thwack_ vibrates down the windowsill.

Ben startles immediately and falls off his pull up bar. It’s the best thing she’s ever seen in her entire life. Looking startled, much to Rey’s delight, he switches off his music and scrambles over to where she’s crouched.

“What the hell are you doing?!” he snarls when he throws open his window.

She grins up at him, leaning her arms against the ledge. “Can you keep it down?” she asks, regurgitating the exact same lines he used on her during the Taylor Swift incident. “I’m trying to study over here.”

His unimpressed expression tells her that he knows what she’s doing, and he is _not_ a fan.

“How did you get over here?” he asks, bracing his arms in front of hers on the windowsill.

She points behind her to the tree wedged between their two houses.

“Ah,” he says. “Pity you didn’t fall off.”

Grinning, she finds herself subconsciously leaning into him, and not entirely hating it. “Yeah, it’s a real shame.”

He looks at her with that same intense expression as before, like when they were in the corridor. It’s as if he’s contemplating something strange and puzzling, something that he has his finger on but he can’t quite work out. She stares back at him unashamedly, now completely unbothered by the fact that she’s just climbed onto some boy’s roof to chap his window.

After the ogling begins to get a little awkward, Ben clears his throat and moves back into his room. She can see his chest clearly now, glistening with sweat from his work out. Honestly, how is this fair? How can one person be intelligent and good looking? It just makes Rey hate him even more.

It’s not like she’s got a bad body – soccer has kept her fit and healthy, even when she _is_ choking down double cheeseburgers from McDonalds every Friday with Poe and Finn. She knows she’s smart too, making her a worthy candidate to go up against Ben for the position of valedictorian.

But he really does have it all. He seems so calm and collected, so put together. Rey gets the vibe that he knows exactly what he wants, and will do everything in his power to achieve his goals.

It’s fucking annoying.

Rey watches as he pulls a top over his head. She’s not disappointed. She’s _not_.

“I’ll keep it down in future,” Ben says, coming back to sit down beside her by the window. “But on one condition.”

“What?”

“You have to promise to never sing Taylor Swift in my general vicinity again.”

She stands up, struggling to contain her grin. “I’ll consider it.”

There’s something about Ben that she just _hates_. However, she has to admit, she also thoroughly enjoys winding him up. He’s just so easy to mock – she thinks it must be his smug attitude and dry sense of humor that makes it so fun.

Just as she’s turning to hop back onto the tree, Ben insincerely says, “Good luck with the studying.”

“Oh, I don’t need luck,” she fires back, not even stopping to look at him.

She can still hear him laughing when she retreats back into her bedroom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you liked the chapter, please let me know :)


	3. Chapter 3

Clad in nothing but her _Avengers_ pajama shorts and her over-sized _‘I heart π’_ t-shirt, Rey heaves the hefty bag of trash into the trashcan at the side of her house. She’s not exactly looking her best with her hair scraped up into three little buns and with two odd shoes on (her left shoe is a pair of luminous pink converse, her right shoe comes from Maz’s expensive high heel collection), but it’s 10PM on a Wednesday night. The only person seeing her like this is the neighborhood cat prowling around the street.

After she places the lid back on the bin, a sleek white Camaro pulls into next doors driveway.

_Great. So much for no one seeing her like this._

She presses herself flat against the house resolutely – trying to ensure whoever gets out of the car doesn’t spot her in her ugly pajamas – and then slowly begins shuffling her way around to the front door. Just as she’s about to make a break for it and run up her stairs, the neighbor's car door is slamming shut and a voice is calling, _“Hey! Girl next door!”_

Squeezing her eyes closed, she turns around on the spot as slowly as she can manage. “Hello,” she says lamely, waving her hand in the air.

The man who called looks about forty and is incredibly handsome in a rugged sort of way. Rey realizes immediately that this must be Ben’s father, and she can unquestionably see where he gets his good looks from.

“I don’t think we’ve met,” the man says. He jogs over to the area of grass where his lawn finishes and hers begins. “I’m Han, Ben’s father. You go to school with him, right?”

Reluctantly, she traipses down the stairs to get a bit closer, but still keeps her distance. She doesn’t want to get _too_ caught up in a conversation – she has math homework due for tomorrow, after all.

“Yes, Ben is in a few of my classes,” she replies. Realizing she hasn’t mentioned her name, she quickly follows up with, “I’m Rey.”

He gives her a charming grin, one that makes her a little weak in the knees. Christ, do all Solo men have the ability to drive her emotions wild?

“I hope he’s being well behaved,” Han says conversationally. “He’s not the best at fitting in.”

Rey’s eyes go comically wide. “ _Ben?_ Having trouble fitting in?” she says, lying through her teeth. “I would _never_ have known.”

He barks out a laugh. “He’s having the same problems at this school, then.”

“I mean–”

Before she has a chance to finish her sentence, the front door opens and Ben steps out. He’s sporting an _Avengers_ t-shirt and a pair of boxers, with reading glasses perched on the edge of his nose. When he catches sight of her standing with his father, he freezes and Rey notices his hand tightening on the door frame. She has to duck her head to hide her blush – catching Ben in his boxers isn’t exactly on her daily agenda.

“What are you doing?” Ben asks his father.

Han shrugs. “Just making nice with the neighbors.” He pauses deliberately, grinning at Ben in a way that Rey doesn’t quite understand. “You didn’t tell me she’s was a looker.” 

“Dad,” Ben says flatly. “Inside.”

Han holds his hands up defensively. “I was just–”

 _“Inside,”_ Ben hisses.

Following his son’s orders, Han strolls back up the steps and into the house leisurely, throwing Rey a cheerful wave over his shoulder. Without Han there to ease the tension, she’s left standing awkwardly at the edge of Ben’s yard. She notices him staring at her with both curiosity and interest, and she racks her brain for something to say to alleviate the discomfort. 

_Say something witty._

_Or, something intelligent._

_Don’t embarrass yourself, Rey,_ she thinks.

God, just anything. Say anything! 

“Nice pajamas,” she calls over to him, crossing her arms defensively over her chest.

He looks her up and down, and she can see his eyes stopping at her ‘ _I heart π’_ t-shirt. “I could say the same for you.”

The silence stretches again.

“Well, this has been sufficiently awkward,” she jerks her thumb towards her front door, “but math homework is calling my name.”

“Ah.” He nods his head jerkily. “Good luck. Question 9B is quite difficult.”

She gives him a roguish grin. “I’m sure I’ll manage.” She pauses for dramatic effect, just to wind him up even more. “I _am_ top of the class, after all.”

Turning around and jogging up to her door, she laughs when she hears his calls of protest following behind her.

Man, he really hates being second best.

 

***

 

To Rey’s irritation, question 9B is _categorically_ one of the worst questions she’s ever had to answer in any subject before. It takes her just under four hours to finish it, meaning its 2AM before she’s ready to crawl into bed.

She knew she shouldn’t have left it until the last minute again.

Just as she’s packing her completed homework into her bag and throwing it to the side of her room (she’s really pissed it took her so long, okay), she catches a glimpse of movement in Ben’s room.

How odd. She thought he would have been well asleep by now.

She’s just about to turn off her light, not interested in the activities Ben’s getting up to at 2AM, when she sees him walking past the window.

Or, more specifically, she sees his bare ass walking past the window.  

He’s completely naked.

Oh my fucking god.

She’s just seen Ben Solo’s ass.

She practically swan dives into her bed, switching off her bedside lamp as quickly as possible and buries her head under the covers. Thank god there’s no one around to see her blush, which she’s sure probably goes all the way down to her toes. She’s absolutely mortified; her pulse is racing so fast from overexertion that her head swims.

“Fuck my life,” she whispers into the darkness.

She lies there in shock for what feels like an hour.

It takes her a long time to fall asleep that night.

 

***

 

When Rey wakes up in the morning, she’s in a terrible mood.

She had only gotten roughly three hours sleep the night before due to the image of Ben Solo’s ass being ingrained into her brain.

She’ll honestly never forgive him.

First of all, he moves to the school and thinks he’s better than everyone else. Secondly, he tries to steal the position of valedictorian from under her nose (despite her not even wanting it in the first place, it still enrages her). Now, he’s making her miss out on her full eight hours sleep. Honestly, it’s just unacceptable.

She trudges down the stairs to get her breakfast with a scowl on her face.

“Oh child!” Maz gasps when she sees her. “What’s the matter? Where’s my ray of sunshine?”

After pouring Cap’n Crunch into a bowl, she sits down on the table and starts shoveling spoonfuls into her mouth. “The neighbors are dicks.”

Maz watches her attentively. “I thought they were nice.”

“The dad is cool,” she admits. “Ben, however, is the worst human being I’ve ever met.”

“My,” Maz says. “I don’t think I’ve ever known you to take such a disliking to someone.”

“Well.” She shrugs her shoulders. “I just hate him.”

“Why?”

Rey scoops more cereal into her mouth. “He’s just one of those boys, you know?” she says with her mouth full. Maz gives her a disapproving look, so she gulps her breakfast down before she continues. “He thinks he’s the smartest person in the room.”

“Well, if someone thinks they are the smartest person in the room, they are probably in the wrong room,” Maz quips wisely.

Ah, her foster mother. The _actual_ most intelligent human being on the planet.

“I’ve got soccer practice today after school,” Rey says. “I’ll be home late.”

“Text me,” Maz says, already typing furiously on her phone.

She finishes her cereal and dumps her bowl in the sink, ready to dash outside and wait for Poe to pick her up. She’s taking her jacket off the coat peg when Maz calls her back and tells her to clean her empty dishes. Rolling her eyes, Rey quickly backtracks to the sink and gives them a good scrub before placing them gently on the drying rack.

“Bye Maz!” she calls before running out of the door, not even waiting for a response.

Poe is already out there, so she jogs over swiftly, throwing the car door open and jumping into the back seat. Finn is in the front, having already called shotgun this week.

“Wow, why does your face look like thunder?” Poe asks, twisted around in his seat so he can face her.

Out of the corner of her eye, she can see Ben emerging from his house, backpack slung over his shoulder. He’s carrying a few books, and his hair is sculpted perfectly, making him look like he’s just returned from a freaking shampoo commercial. She can’t get the image of his ass out of her mind.

“Just drive,” she grits out, trying to hide her blush.

Poe shrugs and presses his foot on the gas, peeling away from the pavement. Rey turns around to look out the back window. As the Solo household gets smaller and smaller, she thinks she can see Ben watching the car drive away.

 

***

 

She walks into AP biology, frowning at anyone who dares looks like they’re going to confront her. It’s the last class of the day, and her mood has only gotten worse as time has gone by. Rose, her AP class buddy – aka Rey’s only friend who’s as smart as her – is off with tonsillitis today, so she’s been alone in all of her classes apart from English lit and geography.

It has not been a good day.

Ben’s already sitting front and centre, but she ignores him (and his stupid, beautiful ass) in favour of taking her seat at the back of the class.

“Okay students,” Mr. Artoo says, clapping his hands from his desk. “We’re doing a lab today.”

The whole class collectively sits up straighter in their seats, excited expressions on their faces. Lab class means a whole period to goof off and do minimum work. Okay, yeah, there may be a little experiment involved, but it only goes towards one percent of their overall grade. Which means Rey spends the lesson gossiping with Rose and having fun. She doesn’t think she’s actually ever done any serious work during lab time – mostly the experiments are easy. So much so that she doesn’t have to pay attention.

“Rey, Ben,” Mr. Artoo says, snapping her out of her daydream. “You two will be partnered together since both Rose and Hux are off.”

She gapes at Hux’s empty seat. She hadn’t even noticed his absence.  

Everyone begins to move towards the equipment at the side of the room, but Rey feels like her ass is stuck to her chair. She wrings her hands together nervously, watching as Ben moodily ransacks his backpack for his textbook. He’s clearly trying to delay the process of partnering up with her. After he’s gotten everything he needs out, and wasted as much time as possible, he stalks over towards her table.

“Why haven’t you started getting the equipment out?” he snaps, eyebrows drawn together into a frown.

She balks. “Um, I was waiting on you?”

If Rey thought she was in bad mood, it’s nothing compared to how grumpy Ben is. His anger only makes her mood plummet further, and she finds her face morph into a permanent scowl.

“Come on then,” he says, rolling his eyes impatiently. “This one percent is important.”

He begins reading the experiment sheet to see what equipment they need and she laughs loudly, thinking he’s finally cracked a joke for once. When he doesn’t smile along, she realises he’s being deadly serious.

“Jesus Christ, Ben, can we lighten up a little?”

She shoulders past him to reach the equipment, gathering up the test tubes and solutions required for the experiment. Today, they’re trying to determine the effects of lead on the liver. Great. Fun times to be had by all. She really regrets picking biology, but she needs it to get into engineering at college.

“This is serious Rey!”

She whirls around on him, giving him an unimpressed look. “This is one percent.”

They take their stuff back over to the desk and Rey can feel him glaring at the back of her head. When she puts the safety goggles on, she begins setting up the equipment herself, leaving him to his mood. After a while, he joins her.

“I thought you wanted to be valedictorian?” he asks.

“I do.” She gives him the side eye, watching as he cuts a piece of liver into manageable sizes. “Why?”

He smirks. “You’re never going to beat me if you mess around every period. Especially when the laboratory periods make up ten percent overall.”

She rolls her eyes. “Yes, but this particular one is only one percent.”

“So, you’re telling me that you’ll do lots of work when you’re partnered up with Rose?”

She definitely won’t. “Of course I will.”

He gives her doubtful look. He finishes cutting the liver and deposits them into individual test tubes. “Well, you’re not ruining my one percent just because you’re lazy and incompetent.”

“Excuse me?” Her voice sounds shrill even to her ears.

“You heard what I said.”

Great. This class is going to be the worst. She’s going to give Rose hell when she comes back to school for putting her through this.

“You think just because I mess around that I won’t still get the best mark in the class?” She laughs loudly. “Oh Ben. Sweet, _naive_ Ben.” Twirling the knife around her fingers, she gives him her most charming smile. “I don’t even need to _turn up_ to class to be smarter than you.”

He bites his lip, and she can tell that he’s trying not to smile.

 _Holy shit, those are nice lips._

“You put up quite an impressive fight,” he says. “But you have to know that I’ll always come out on top.”

Perhaps not the best thing to say to her, as now she’s thinking about Ben being on top, and that’s _really_ not a line of thought she wants to go down. She looks up at him from under her lashes, observing how attractive he actually is. Jesus, she’s never noticed before.

When she realizes he’s watching her expectantly for a snide remark, or just a reply to his last comment, she can’t even un-jumble her head or even try to string a sentence together to respond. All she can think about is his hotness and how flustered its getting her. To make the situation even worse, images of Ben’s ass streaking past his window keep flashing into her brain.

In the end, all she can say is, “Shit.”

He gives her a weird look, but Mr. Artoo is shouting at them to get a move on from the front of the classroom.

Shit indeed.

Rey doesn’t know if she’s trying to impress him, but she ends up getting the experiment done on time with no jokes or laughter.

The whole time she pictures herself stabbing a scalpel into his hand.

 

***

 

Rey goes to soccer practice after school feeling as confused as ever.

Naturally, to make her terrible day even worse, it starts to rain.

By the end of practice, she’s feeling well and truly worn-out. They had been running around for an hour, with Poe (the newly appointed captain) shouting at them to do drills every five minutes. Being his best friend, she thought he would have let her and Finn off easy.

But no.

If anything, he actually pushed them harder than the rest of the team, the fucking sadist.

And, if Rey thought things would be looking up for her, just before practice ended Poe received a phone call telling him his grandmother has been taken into hospital. Additionally, Finn had to go straight to his part time job in the diner. Which means she’s going to have to walk home from school alone. In the rain. After spending an hour outside training in the rain.

And it’s an hour walk.

Her soccer kit is covered in mud, due to her ‘unnecessary skidding’ (Poe’s words, not hers), so she can’t even put her jacket on.

Today has been really shit.

She’s trudging along the path beside the main road, completely drenched, shivering and sniffling from the cold. As she’s walking, she looks longingly at the people safe and dry inside their cars. Damn, she really wishes Maz finished work at the same time she finishes school so she could come and pick her up.

Just as she’s made a pact to finish her driving lessons, a white car skids to a stop beside the sidewalk. She stops walking and looks at the car suspiciously, pushing her soaking hair back from her face so she can see a little better. The passenger side rolls down their window and she’s shocked to see Ben’s angry appearance. His head is practically moulded to the headrest, and he’s staring ahead of him determinedly, refusing to look at her for some weird reason.

“Hello neighbour!” Han calls, leaning over Ben so he can see her properly.

 _Ah, that’s why Ben’s angry,_ Rey thinks. _He didn’t want to stop the car for her._

“Hello,” she smiles, trying to shield her eyes from the rain.

It’s bouncing off the pavement now. She doesn’t want to be rude to Han, but she also doesn’t want to stand in the rain and chat by the sidewalk all night – she’ll probably catch a cold if she does.

“Get in,” Han says, and Ben’s mouth tightens into a thin line.

Rey reels back, shocked. “Oh, no. I couldn’t possibly–”

“We’re going to the same place, aren’t we?” Han interrupts. “It would be stupid not to, kid.”

She looks at Ben, who definitely doesn’t seem pleased with this arrangement. But then, can she bypass an awkward ten-minute journey when it means she’ll get in out of the rain? And save her a forty-minute walk?

She swallows her pride and jumps into the back seat of the car. “Thank you.”

“It’s no problem,” Han says sincerely, pressing his foot slowly on the gas for a smooth departure. He pats his hand against the dashboard of the car. “This here is the Millennium Falcon.”

Rey brightens. “Cool name!” She looks around the interior as they drive. “It’s a _Yenko Camaro_ , right?”

“Right!” Han says, looking at her through the mirror. “You like cars?”

“When I was younger I stole a car and took it for a joyride,” she admits. “That’s how social services found me. I got sent to a foster home after that.”

“That’s a wild story, kiddo,” Han grins, face lighting up. He waggles his finger in the air. “I like you. You’re trouble.”

She thinks she can hear Ben whisper, _“damn right she is,”_ but when she snaps her attention to him, he’s sitting in stony silence. Rey can see his eyebrows turned down. She doesn’t actually think he’s ever looked relaxed around her – just angry.

“You should come over some time and tell us more about that,” Han says, interrupting her thoughts.

She smiles at him when he catches her gaze in the mirror but doesn’t want to agree to a night in with the Solo’s. She thinks that would be pretty fucked up considering how much his son hates her.  

“Were you at math club?” she asks Ben.

“Yes,” he replies.

She expects more, but that’s all he gives her. “Right,” she says. “I was at soccer.”

He grunts. “I know.”

“You play soccer, Rey?” Han asks. “I always tried to get Ben into soccer, but he preferred math and science.”

“Sorry I can’t be the perfect son,” Ben snaps, sounding like the pinnacle of teenage angst. His arms cross over his chest defensively, and if it’s even possible, his eyebrows become even angrier.

She didn’t think angry eyebrows even _existed_.

Han ignores him in favor of asking Rey what other clubs she attends.

“Well, I want to be valedictorian,” she says, watching Ben’s reaction carefully. She grins when his shoulders stiffen. “So, I need to be a member of a few clubs. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I go to soccer. On Wednesday at lunch time I attend the Gay/Straight alliance club and on Friday’s after school I run the Yearbook Committee.”

Han whistles. “Jeez, kiddo. That’s a full schedule. Ben’s into his clubs too.” He pauses, contemplating something. “What are they again?”

Ben sighs irritably.

“Chess club, math club and electronics,” Rey supplies. When both Han and Ben shoot her a surprised look (Ben even turns around in his chair to gawk at her), she shrugs her shoulders awkwardly. “It pays well to know the competition.”

“Right,” Ben says, still staring at her.

“I wanted to join electronics,” she says. “But it conflicts with the Gay/Straight alliance club.”

“Too bad.” Ben smiles at her insincerely.

What. A. Dick.

Han turns the car into their drive and switches the engine off. “You two are pretty competitive, huh?”

Rey claps her hands together. “Well, becoming valedictorian is an exceptional accomplishment that would look amazing on college applications.”

“You already got into UCLA,” Ben snaps. “You don’t need to look good on college applications.”

She raises an eyebrow. “Didn’t you already get into like _five_ decent colleges?”

“Who told you that?” he asks.

“Um, Paige I think?” she responds.

“Well, Paige was wrong,” Ben snaps, opening the car door. He grabs his bag and slides out effortlessly, slamming the door shut behind him with a hard _bang_.

Rey and Han watch as he storms up to his porch, fumbling to get his house keys out. When he finally gets them, he opens the front door and disappears inside.

“Well,” Han says, “that wasn’t awkward _at all_.”

She gapes at the spot Ben had just been in. “Temperamental little shit, isn’t he?”

Han laughs, a full belly laugh that makes her smile. “You got that right, kid.”

Usually, she wouldn’t dare say something like that about a person’s son. Especially when she was saying it directly to their father. However, something about Han’s easy-going attitude just puts her at ease.

“Well, I better be going,” she says. “Thanks for the lift.”

He gives her a mischievous smile. “Anytime.”

As she walks into her house, she wonders if Ben really did get into a good college. For a second, she feels guilty for trying to nab the title of valedictorian from him. If he hasn’t gotten any college offers yet, that title could be the deal breaking condition that convinces them to accept his application.

But then she remembers his shitty attitude towards her.

As they say, karma's a bitch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you liked the chapter, please let me know :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So sorry this has taken so long! Working two jobs and having no time to yourself doesn't exactly inspire a lot of writing :/// but I hope you enjoy anyway

She’s sweating – completely overcooking, actually – rushing about like a madwoman to wait on tables in a job where she’s being _severely_ underpaid. It’s definitely not worth it, but Maz had pushed her to interview at the pizza place in town a couple of years ago. So, here she is: run off her feet, covered in pizza grease and tomato sauce, waiting on rude people who don’t even say thank you when she serves them.

Rey is finally able to take a breather when the place dies down after lunch. Kaydel, who’s also a waitress and in some of her classes at school, approaches her when her shift starts. She ties her apron around her slim waist, grinning at Rey brightly.

“Busy today?” she asks.

“Very,” Rey replies, huffing out a deep breath.

Kaydel checks through the window into the restaurant. “Looks like someone’s just been seated at your side.”

Rey groans. “I was going to go on my break.”

She hip-checks Kaydel over, taking her place at the window to see the bastards that have ruined her day. When she sees who it is, her groan gets even louder, and Kaydel gives her an odd look. At the booth nearest the window sits her worst enemy and his two parents. Jesus, she just can’t escape the Solo household. First of all, they move in next door. Then, Ben takes over her school. Now they’re eating where she works? Is he stalking her or something?

“Shit,” Rey hisses. “Can you take them?”

Kaydel looks through the opening. “Isn’t that the cute guy from school?” she asks, twirling her pen around her finger and staring at the table intently.  

Rey wheezes. Cute? Fucking _cute_? Kaydel thinks Ben is cute?

“No,” Rey snaps. “He’s a dick.”

Kaydel sighs wistfully. “That’s a shame.”

Suddenly, Rey doesn’t think she wants her friend to take Ben’s order. Without saying a word, she hurries out of the kitchen, heading straight for Ben and his family. They don’t look up when she stops before them, so she stands there awkwardly for a few seconds, forgetting how to speak properly.

“Um, hello?” she says finally. “What can I get for you today?”

Three pairs of eyes snap towards her, and Rey feels like a deer caught in headlights. Thankfully, Han’s face explodes into a wide smile after he sees her. Ben, however, slides down in his seat and refuses to look in her direction.

“This is Rey!” Han says to the older woman enthusiastically, which must be Ben's mom. “The girl Ben thinks is trying to ruin his life.”

A startled laugh bursts from her, and she tries to cover it by coughing loudly. As always, Han’s presence puts her at ease and she feels comfortable enough to joke around. “Yep, that would be me.”

“Oh, _Rey_ ,” the woman says slowly, with a knowing glint in her expression. “I'm Leia, Ben's mom. It’s lovely to finally meet you.” She turns to Ben, and Rey can see her kicking his leg under the table. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

Rey grins. “All good things I hope.”

“Well, not _good_ things necessarily,” Leia shrugs, placing her head on her clasped hands. “But very interesting.”

Snorting, Rey determines that she likes Ben’s mother a whole lot. She looks over her shoulder, noticing Plutt’s presence at the other side of the room. Her boss is staring at her crossly, prompting her to quickly ask, “So, can I get you guys anything to eat?”

Leia and Han swiftly rhyme off their orders, while Ben sits sulkily in the corner of the booth. He's staring intently at his napkin, and she wonders what the hell is so interesting about a stupid paper towel. When it's his turn to order, he mutters something which Rey can’t hear.

“I’m sorry, what was that?” she questions.

Leia stares at her son crossly. “He’ll have a burger and fries, with a strawberry milkshake.”

Rey writes their orders down on her notepad, promising that their food will be ready soon. She walks away feeling strange. Ben didn’t even acknowledge her presence, which is so different from her usual interactions with him. It’s generally banter and teasing, with a little bitterness thrown into the mix. Usually he _has_ to acknowledge her – she’s always up in his business, not leaving any room for him to ignore her.

She wanders into the kitchen with their order and pops it up onto the order rack. Before she has the chance to take another tables food out, Plutt – her boss – steps in front of her and blocks her way. He’s a hugely intimidating man – greasy, with a thin sheen of sweat shining on his forehead, skin that looks like rubber and a wafting smell that follows him wherever he goes. Honestly, Rey doesn’t know how he got this managers position. Who would allow him in a restaurant?

“Rey,” he says sternly, towering over her. “A word, please.”

She frowns. “Okay.”

Following him into the back room, she wonders what she’s done wrong this time. She’s not exactly a stickler for rules around here, but she doesn’t think she’s done anything completely terrible recently. Well, apart from that time a month ago where she broke a handful of plates by tripping over one of the tables. But the money was taken out of her wages. So, it can’t be that.

Plutt slides behind his desk and into his chair. He stares up at her intently, and Rey feels uncomfortable under his scrutinizing gaze.

“So,” she says slowly. “What’s up?”

“A customer has complained about your terrible service skills.”

She gapes. Shaking her head, she says, “What.”

Plutt sends her an unimpressed look. “Be polite, child. You’re rude. Fix that.”

“I mean, I don’t really think–”

“That’s all for today,” Plutt interrupts.

“But–”

_“Out.”_

She scurries out of the office feeling more deflated than ever. As she enters the kitchen again, she’s ready to take Ben’s order out when she notices it’s not there. The order has been removed from the rack, and the chef has moved onto another dish.

What the hell?

Running over to the hole in the wall, she sticks her head out and scans the restaurant. Kaydel, the bloody traitor, is standing at Ben’s table. Clearly she’s just served them their food, and now they’re all chatting away like they’re best buds.

Ben is smiling. He’s freaking _smiling_.

At Kaydel. Who’s smiling right back at him.

Rey’s stomach clenches uncomfortably as she watches the family laugh with her friend. So, Ben bitches about Rey to his family, but can joke and laugh with everyone else? Seriously? She collects another table's order and barges out of the swinging kitchen doors, pointedly ignoring Ben.

She works so hard for the rest of her shift that she doesn’t even notice the Solo family leaving the restaurant.

 

***

 

She forgets about the whole ordeal when school comes around on Monday. As soon as she gets out of Poe’s car, she’s bombarded by Paige, Rose, and a handful of people she recognizes as Paige’s friends.

“Rey!” Paige calls, shoving past her friends to get to the car. “We’ve been waiting for you all morning.”

“Um, school starts in like an hour?” Rey laughs. “How long have you been here for?”

Paige rolls her eyes and ignores her question. “Prom has just been announced!” she says excitedly, waving her hands up in the air so hard that Rey has to take a step back.

“Sooo,” Rose interjects, smiling sweetly. “We were wondering if you wanted to come and help us with the prom committee?”

Crap. She forgot that prom committee was even a thing. In fact, she keeps forgetting that they even _have_ a prom this year. Sighing tiredly (it’s far too early to be roped into this kind of shit), she rubs her hand against her forehead. “Guys, you know I can’t,” she says. “I’m already on the yearbook committee.”

“And she’s a member of the gay/straight alliance club,” Finn adds.

“And the soccer team has a really big game coming up,” Poe says. “We kinda need Rey to be focused.”

Paige pouts, disappointment written visibly on her face. “Oh shit, yeah.”

Rey feels super bad. “I’m really sorry,” she says to Paige while the group walk the short distance to the school’s front doors. “If I had time I totally would join.”

“It’s okay,” Paige says, throwing an arm around Rey’s shoulder. “I understand. You’ve got too much shit going on.” They amble down the corridor to get to their shared homeroom. “Besides, a little birdie told me you’re planning on becoming valedictorian.”

Rey shrugs. “I need to ace all my classes to do that. So far, I think Ben has the head start.”

They stop in front of their homeroom class. Poe, Finn and Rose rush to catch up, while the other members of the prom committee wander in the opposite direction to their class down the hall.

Paige links her arm with Rey’s. “I think you can beat him. You’re a strong, independent lady and you’re the smartest girl in this whole school. You got this.”

Poe shoulders open the classroom door, stumbling in. The teacher isn’t there yet, so he asks, “What are we talking about?”

“Rey’s going to be valedictorian,” Paige says, following Poe into the classroom and taking her seat at the back. Finn and Rey take the leftover seats beside them.

“I dunno,” Finn says. “I’ve seen Ben in the library every day for the past few weeks.”

“Shit,” Rey groans. “I may as well just back down now.”

“You need to study,” Rose says. “We can have study sessions after school if you’d like?”

Rey leans back in her seat to face her friend. “Rose, you are literally the best.”

“What about tonight?” Finn asks, just as the teacher walks into the room.

“My place?” Rey whispers, trying not to draw attention to herself talking as the teacher calls for attendance. “Maz is working late tonight. We could order pizza?”

The gang nods their head in agreement.

It’s time for Rey to get serious.

 

***

 

After school, everyone piles into Poe’s car. Rey, Rose and Paige are squeezed tightly into the back seat, which makes for an uncomfortable (but hilarious) ride home. When they get to Rey’s house, the group scrambles to their ‘designated’ seats in the living room. Poe and Finn are on the love seat, taking their usual cuddled position (but Finn’s not gay – he swears!). Rose and Paige are on the double couch, and Rey takes the single seat in the corner by the fireplace.

They end up studying for about forty minutes before they get bored and stick on _Thor: Ragnarok_. Rey orders the pizza in – Poe, an actual demon, orders pineapple on his – and the rest of the gang get the spare duvet covers and pillows down so they can all get comfortable.

“So, Rey,” Poe says casually – a little _too_ causally, if you ask her. A massive piece of the disgusting pineapple pizza dangles from his hand, and he shoves the end into his mouth before he begins speaking again. “What’s the situation between you and Ben?”

“Ben?” Rey asks, perplexed. “I don’t know. I hate him, he hates me.” She shrugs, taking a bite of her own pizza. “It’s a perfect system.”

Paige raises her eyebrows. “But you like, _want_ him, right?”

“No!” Rey squawks. “I don’t!”

“Not even a little bit?” Finn asks.

Rey looks around at each of her friends faces, noticing the way they’re staring at her with rapt attention and interest. She realizes they all genuinely think she likes Ben. Oh my god. What the hell is this? An intervention?

“No, obviously I don’t like Ben,” she scoffs. “He’s a dickhead.”

The group give each other a look, and Rey knows they don’t believe her.

Rose gets up from her seat and wanders into the kitchen, presumably to get a drink if her empty glass is anything to go by. “It’s just that you act really different with him,” she calls, but Rey can’t see her face to judge if she’s being serious or not.

Finn hums. “She’s kind of right, you know? You get really weird around him.”

“Super competitive,” Poe adds. “Like you want to destroy him, but also jump his bones at the same time.”

“It’s weird,” Paige says. She chews her pizza for a moment, pondering something. “Like, it’s insanely intense.”

Rey rolls her eyes. “It’s not like that. I just don’t like the guy.” Noticing her glass of juice is also empty, she stands up to get herself a refill. “Why are you all making such a big deal out of this anyway?”

She doesn’t understand why they think she’s in love with him or something? She’s never acted a certain way around him that suggests she is. In her opinion, she’s always made her intentions towards Ben abundantly clear. To put it simple, she hates him and all he stands for. 

“We’ve just never seen you act like this before with anyone,” Poe says. “You’ve got to admit that this is a first for you.”

She begins her walk to the kitchen. “Okay, yeah. I admit I’ve never felt like this before.” Rey turns around on the spot, ready to argue her point to her friends. She doesn’t want them thinking she’s just using her anger to fight back her feelings for Ben, or whatever they’re thinking she’s doing. “I’m not in love with him, though. It’s hatred I’m feeling, not anything else.”

Turning around to get her drink, she smacks straight into Rose who spills her entire drink down Rey’s front.

“Shit!” they both exclaim at the same time.

“I’m so sorry,” Rose says, grabbing Rey’s t-shirt and pulling it away from her stomach.

Rey grimaces at the feeling of the sticky wetness clinging to her damp skin. “It’s fine, don’t worry,” she says. “I’ll just go up and get changed.”

Poe jumps up from his seat, a now cold pizza slice dangling from his hand. “I’ll come with.”

She frowns, confused, but doesn’t question his motives. She rolls her eyes when she realizes her friends are laughing at the fact that the juice has stained her jeans to make it look like she’s peed herself. They make their way up the stairs, to the sound of her friend’s giggles, and as soon as they’re out of earshot from the rest of the group, Poe turns to her and says, “I think I’ve got a big problem.”

Rey stops at the top of the landing and turns to stare at him. She dreads to hear the answer, but nevertheless, she still asks, “What’s up?”

Poe grabs her by the arm and drags her into her bedroom. He pushes her in forcefully and turns around, making sure no one has followed them up the stairs. Then, he shuts the door softly.

“Jesus Christ,” Rey says, stumbling against her bed. She grimaces as the wetness of her t-shirt sticks against her skin. But she doesn’t want to start stripping when Poe is clearly having a quarter life crisis.

“Okay, so.” Poe takes a deep breath, calming himself. “Like I said, I have a humongous problem. A big one.” He pauses. “Massive.”

“I get it. You’ve got a problem,” Rey says, rolling her eyes. “But what is it?”

He wrings his hands together nervously. “I think I’m in love with Finn.”

Rey’s eyes widen. “Shit.”

“No, in fact, I don’t _think_ I am. I definitely am.”

_“Shit.”_

Poe’s face crumbles. “I know. It’s terrible.”

“I mean, I always joked about it,” Rey confesses, “but I didn’t actually think it was true.”

“What am I going to do?” he asks.

He sits down on Rey’s bed, and she continues to ignore the uncomfortableness of her wet jeans and t-shirt. Looking in the mirror, it definitely looks like she’s had an unfortunate accident. No wonder her friends were laughing.

“I think we need to find out if he likes you first,” Rey suggests, turning back to Poe. “You need to flirt with him.”

He gives her an unimpressed look. “Oh, honey, I already flirt outrageously.”  

Rey grins. “Well, amp it up, baby.” She walks over to her door and locks it to make sure no one comes in while she’s changing. “Also, I suggest flirting with other boys to see if you can make him jealous.”

“Jesus,” Poe says. “You’re evil. I like it.”

She rifles through her drawers to find clean pajamas to wear. “Let’s be honest, Finn is never going to get his head out of his ass unless you _make_ him.”

“Bit like you then,” Poe mutters.

Rey ignores him. She pulls her damp and sticky t-shirt over her head, not caring if she’s exposing her bra to Poe. _Not like he would appreciate it anyway,_ she thinks with an eye roll. Realizing that her underwear has gotten wet too, she instructs Poe to turn around while she tugs down both her jeans and pants, and then removes her bra.

Once she’s finished changing, she turns back to Poe with a smile. However, he’s not interested in her – he’s too busy laughing at something out the window. She lets her gaze trail to where Poe is staring and immediately reels back from shock.

Ben is standing there. Gaping at her. With his t-shirt off.

“Shit!” Rey exclaims. “Did he just see my ass?”

Poe practically vaults himself off of her bed and clambers over to the window. He throws it open before Rey has the chance to stop him and sticks his head out. Unfortunately for her, Ben’s window is already wedged open, meaning her best friend has free range to engage the neighbor with conversation.

“Hello handsome,” Poe calls, leaning his head on his hands. “Enjoying the view?”

Rey grumbles to herself before taking her place beside him at the window. She can see Poe fluttering his eyes at Ben, who stands awkwardly to the side with his t-shirt clutched tightly in his hands. She rolls her eyes when she realizes that Poe has probably started putting his _make-Finn-jealous_ plan into motion.

Ben looks nervous. In fact, she would go out on a limb to say he’s positively blushing. “I didn’t see anything,” he says, but she knows he definitely did by the way his ears are turning pink and he’s refusing to meet their gaze.

She doesn’t know why the thought of him seeing her naked makes her stomach flutter apprehensively.

“Sure you didn’t, pal,” Poe smirks. “We wouldn’t blame you for looking. Rey has a banging bod.”

Groaning, she hits her friend on the arm _hard_. “Oh my god, Poe, shut up.”

“So, what are you up to over there?” Poe asks, completely ignoring her cries of outrage. He cranes his head so he can see through Ben’s window. Jesus, she doesn’t think she’s ever met anyone nosier and more interfering than her best friend.

Ben shifts from one foot to the other apprehensively. “Um, I’m just studying.”

“Well, would you like to come over for some pizza?”

 _“Poe!”_ Rey snaps.

Ben hesitates. “I really need to study.”

“That’s a shame,” Poe smiles. “Maybe next time?”

“Maybe,” Ben replies, but they all know Ben Solo will never set a foot in Rey’s house.  

Poe opens his mouth – ready to inevitably argue with the poor boy opposite – but before he has the chance, Rey pushes him onto the bed so he can’t say any more stupid shit.

“Well, goodnight then!” she says to Ben’s shocked face before slamming the window shut and pulling her curtains closed.

Her best friend sits up on the bed and glares at her. “You didn’t need to be so rude,” he says. “I was enjoying that conversation.”

“I’m sure you were.” She sighs exasperatedly as she unlocks her bedroom door. “Now, can we go down before people start to wonder what we’re doing up here?”

Poe pushes past her, and Rey follows him down her hall and to the top of the stairs. “I hope they think we’re going at it,” he says with a grin. Rey doesn’t even dignify that statement with a response.

When they get downstairs, the group ignores their prolonged period of absence and pops on another movie. She pretends not to notice the way Poe glances longingly at Finn every ten seconds. However, she does find it interesting to see that Finn has been doing the exact same thing to Poe. God, her friends are idiots.

Despite the movie being a good one, Rey spends the whole night distractedly thinking about Ben’s facial expression when he caught her getting changed.  

She doesn’t get any studying done.


	5. Chapter 5

“C’mon guys, we’re going to miss all the free donuts!”

Poe gives her a flat look. “You go to GSA just for the free donuts?”

“Well, no,” Rey starts guiltily, “but it helps.”

Rolling their eyes, Poe and Finn let themselves be dragged by down the corridor towards the classroom where the Gay/Straight Alliance club is hosted every Wednesday at lunch time. Truth be told, even without the free food and goodies, the club would still be Rey’s favorite. There’s nothing better than sitting in a classroom with a bunch of kids of all ages who are all coming together to celebrate love and alliance, no matter who’s involved. And since _Love, Simon_ came out in the cinema, the club is bursting with new members.

When they get into the classroom, they trio immediately spot Rose and Paige who have saved them seats at the back of the room. Weirdly, however, Phasma seems to be sitting a couple of rows in front. Rey has never seen the blonde-haired girl at any club or society (never mind this one), but she has to admit, if this is Phasma’s way of coming out, Rey totally called it.

“Paige and I are taking the meeting today,” Rose says when Rey sits down beside her. She hands her a box of donuts and gives her a mischievous grin. “I knew you’d be late, so I saved you a box. The rest are all gone.”

Rey clutches the donut box to her chest, trying not to tear up at how much she loves her friend. “Rose, please marry me.” Opening the box and scooping one with bright pink icing and sprinkles, she takes a huge bite and moans appreciatively. “You’re the best,” she says, when she’s finished chewing.

“I know,” Rose says. She takes a quick glance around the classroom, noticing how full to the brim it is. “Look like everyone’s in now. Wish me luck!”

“Good luck!” Rey calls when her friend stands up and wanders to the top of the class.

Paige distractedly follows behind her, typing away on her phone furiously. Rey sits back in her seat and watches her two friends hand out pieces of paper. She’s supposed to be leading a meeting in a couple of weeks with Poe, so she makes sure to take note of all the things Rose and Paige are doing. Looks like she’ll need to go to the public library to print out some handouts for everyone. Or maybe she could convince Poe to do all the dirty work, since she’s got the first Yearbook Committee meeting to plan every Friday.

“Hello everyone and welcome to this weeks GSA meeting,” Rose says cutely. “Today we’re going to be discussing the recent prom announcement, and how we can make sure this year’s prom stays LGBT+ friendly.”

“As we all know, last year’s prom had a few problems with same-sex couples kissing during the dance,” Paige begins. “This year, we’re going to make sure nothing like that happens again.”

Rey takes a look down at her handout, reading the steps people can take when dealing with homophobia at school dances. Paige and Rose have really put a lot of thought into this week, and it makes her chest clench with love and affection. Honestly, her friends are the best people in the world.

When everyone gets into groups to discuss the matters of today’s meeting, Rey is surprised to find Phasma joining them. And no one is acting weird about it. What the hell? This is the same girl that tormented Finn all through high school. The same girl who pushed him out of her friendship group. The same girl who’s friends with the worst people ever – Hux and Ben. Why is no one questioning this? Finn is joking and laughing with Poe, not effected by Phasma’s presence in the slightest. Is it just Rey that’s weirded out by this?

Despite Phasma’s quiet presence, the meeting passes quicker than usual and Rey begrudgingly hands out the rest of her donuts (after eating like five) to her group of friends. As soon as they leave the room, talking and laughing, the classroom door on the other side of the hall swings open and out steps Ben Solo.

He stops in his tracks when he sees them – or, more specifically, he freezes when he sees her standing there gaping at him. The people behind Ben run into his back, bumping him forward a few steps which puts him in a closer range to Rey. The rest of the group begins to walk towards their first class after lunch, but Rey and Ben are still stuck in place, staring at each other with wide eyes.

“I have to go to a meeting before biology,” Rose tells her in the background, but she’s not really listening, too busy gawking at the boy opposite her. “Tell Mr. Artoo that I’ll be late.”

Rey nods her head dumbly. Truthfully, she doesn’t even know what she’s agreeing to – all she knows is that there’s an empty corridor between her and Ben and a silence that stretches uncomfortably.

“Are you stalking me now?” she blurts, which sounds bad but it’s the first thing that comes to her mind. Watching Ben’s eyes narrow into small slits, she realizes she’s probably made a big mistake.

“Like I’d ever waste any time stalking you,” he scoffs. “Don’t flatter yourself.”

Rey ignores his rude comment in favor of asking, “Was that electronics?”

“Yeah,” is all he says in return. He gives her a suspicious look, as if he doesn’t know why she’s talking to him.

“Cool.”

“Right.”

“So,” Rey starts. “AP Biology next, yeah?”

“Yep.”

She realizes that he’s not going to give her any conversation, so she gestures awkwardly to the other side of the corridor with her thumb. “I guess I’ll be off.”

“You do that,” he says.

As she begins walking, she realises Ben is trailing behind her. Twisting her head around so she can see him, she says, “Jesus, you really _are_ stalking me.”

He rolls his eyes at her and his dark hair falls in front of his face. She has the strangest urge to brush it back. “We’re going to the same class,” he says, deadpan.

She scoffs loudly, making sure he hears from his stalking position. “I’m sure the world won’t collapse if we walk to class together once.”

“It might,” he mutters, but he still uses his long-ass tree legs to catch up with her. There’s a few seconds of silence, which Rey itches to fill, but before she has the chance Ben is clearing his throat. “So, have you heard about Owen Lars’ party on Saturday night?”

“No?” Rey replies, frowning.

Why on earth does Ben know about a party that she doesn’t? There’s no way anyone in school likes him enough to invite him to a party – especially when Rey hasn’t even heard about it. Anyway, Owen is captain of the basketball team, and super friendly with Poe. There’s no way she wouldn’t get invited.

“Aww,” Ben smirks. “Look who didn’t get an invite.”

“Dude, I’m on the football team,” she replies. “I’ll be there. Are you going?”

He shrugs. “I don’t know.”

Thankfully, they reach their AP biology classroom before the conversation can get any more awkward than it already is. They go their separate ways without a backwards glance or goodbye, and honestly, Rey is pretty relieved she doesn’t have to talk to the weirdo any longer. 

The first half of class passes uneventfully, despite Hux smarmily answering every question, making Rey’s eye twitch with annoyance. Rose shows up half way through and Rey guiltily realizes she forgot to tell Mr. Artoo that she would be late. Oops.

“What’s this I’ve been hearing about a party on Saturday?” Rey whispers to Rose during class.

“Oh, shit!” Rose says a little too loudly. A couple of heads at the back of the room swivel around to face her, and she cringes with embarrassment. “I forgot to tell everyone because I was too caught up in the GSA meeting,” she says when the nosy students turn back around, but quieter this time.

Rey hums thoughtfully. “So, are we going?”

“Definitely,” Rose murmurs. “I think Poe is trying to bone Owen.”

“Jesus Christ, no.”

Rose looks at her with wide eyes. “I know, right? I thought he liked Finn.”

“Oh my god, you _know_ about that?” Rey half whispers, half shouts.

“I think the only person who doesn’t know about it is Finn,” Rose snorts.

Their conversation is interrupted by Mr. Artoo clearing his throat. He’s standing in front of their desk, looking down at them with a disapproving glare. Rey hadn’t even seen him approach – the man is clearly a ninja.

“Stop talking, ladies,” he scowls. “Last warning.”

The pair nod their heads dutifully, and Rey ignores the malicious smirks Ben and Hux send her from the front row. What freaking kiss-asses.

 

***

 

The music is ear-splitting when Rey steps through the door with Finn and Poe in tow. She loves this about high school parties. The dancing and the alcohol, the being surrounded by people who talk to you as if you’re the most interesting person in the world. The wind-down time where there’s only a few people left at the end of the night, and the weird and wild conversations to be had.

Honestly, Rey is just happy to let off some steam after a horrendous shift at the pizzeria.

“I’m going to get a drink,” Rey shouts to her friends over the music. “Are you coming?”

Finn nods his head in agreement, while Poe makes a beeline for Owen Lars. They greet each other in the usual ‘ _cool guy’_ way – a weird handshake and a manly pat on the back.

She rolls her eyes. _Boys_.

When she sees Finn’s expression, however, the frown melts off her face in favor of a more empathetic look. Whether he knows it or not, her best friend has got it bad. 

“C’mon,” she says, pulling Finn by the arm into the kitchen. “Let’s get you some vodka!”

Finn snatches a red solo cup off the counter and pours _a lot_ of vodka into the bottom. In fact, she’s pretty sure the drink is going to be ninety percent vodka, ten percent mixer. 

She whistles. “Damn, you’re going to be fucked up tonight.”

“Are you going to join me?” he asks, one eyebrow raised high.

She contemplates it for a second. On one hand, she’s just had a disastrous shift. Additionally, she’s not working tomorrow, so she can spend the whole day in bed hungover.

That’s it really. No downside to it.

“Why the hell not!” Rey grins, grabbing a couple of shot glasses out of the cupboard. She lines them up and fills them with a mix of tequila she just found on the unit and vodka she brought with her. “Ready?” she asks Finn once she’s done, first glass raised beside her mouth.

“Ready,” Finn replies.

They down each shot in rapid succession, both of them grimacing and wiping their mouths with the backs of their hands after.

Rey gags. “That was disgusting.”

“Not as disgusting as this night’s going to be,” Finn glowers. He points to the empty shot glasses. “I’m going to need more of those.”

“Let’s get you a proper drink,” Rey says, placing a soothing hand on his back.

Which really, is only the start of a downwards spiral.

 

***

 

“–and he’s just so _annoying_ ,” Finn groans, drunkenly sprawled on one of the couches. “He’s so hot, fuck.”

She’s pinned beneath him, rubbing his arm comfortingly through his multicolored jumper. He’s been talking about Poe’s ass for the past half an hour. They had downed a couple of beers and shots with Owen and his friends, and now they’ve moved onto vodka and lemonade. Which was probably a bad idea for Finn – who Rey has learned is a _complete_ lightweight.

Admittedly, she’s not doing so hot either. She’s struggling to focus on the words coming out of his mouth. Her head is spinning and her vision is blurred, making reality seem a little bit funnier than usual.

“I’m _so not_ gay, though,” Finn slurs. “I’m not. Nope. Not gay. He’s just really hot.”

Rey laughs and laughs and laughs. Although, it’s probably not that funny, but she can’t help herself. Life is a hoot and then you die, and where will Finn be? Denying his sexuality for the rest of his life?

“Bi,” is all she can manage.

Finn looks at her a little cross-eyed. “Come again?”

“You’re bi,” she says slowly, trying not to slur her words. “Bisexual. As in, into men and women.”

He looks at her like god has just personally given him free reign to do all the naughty things that send people to hell. “Oh, fuck.”

She nods her head sagely. “Yes, fuck. Fuck Poe. Fuck whoever you want, bi boy.”

He stands up on wobbly legs, catching his balance at the last minute. “I’m going to find Poe,” he says, and then stumbles out of the living room.

 _Speaking of fuck_ , she thinks, when she sees Ben Solo walking through the door with Hux and Phasma trailing behind him. The boy has only been at the school for a couple of months and already he’s got followers. Jesus Christ, he’s annoying.  

But that doesn’t stop her from calling, “Ben!”

Which is probably just about the stupidest thing she’s ever done. He catches her gaze immediately, eyes widening in surprise, and watches as she jumps off the couch to greet him. But instead of standing up properly, she face-plants the carpet. Her knees burn and she sighs (because of course this would happen to her, of course it would), wishing the ground would just swallow her whole. “Aww shit.”

She lies there for what feels like a good five minutes before she picks herself up and dusts herself off. Ben, the idiot, is observing her bemusedly from behind the couch.

“Clumsy,” he says, beer in his hand.

She pushes a stray strand of hair away from her face. “Did you literally just ignore me falling to the ground to go and get a beer instead?”

He shrugs his shoulder, smirking at her in a way that makes her stomach knot together. “Pretty much.”

Making her way around the couch, she jabs her finger into his chest. “You, sir, are an asshole,” she says drunkenly. “And I shall be ignoring you for the rest of the night.”

“Fine by me, sweetheart.”

Rey snarls and pushes away from him, storming into the kitchen to find her friends. She’s honestly never met anyone as infuriating as him. When she gets into the kitchen, she spots Paige by the fridge immediately.

“Hello,” Rey says breathlessly. She’s starting to sober up a little, so she grabs another beer and begins drinking.

Paige wraps her arms around Rey’s shoulders in a loving embrace. “I’ve missed you,” she cries. “Where have you been?”

“Coaching Finn through the trials and errors of being bisexual,” Rey grins. “Hopefully him and Poe can get their heads out of their asses long enough to actually register that they’re into each other.”

“We can only pray,” Paige says morosely.

Before Rey can say anything else, Paige’s gaze moves past her shoulder and locks onto something in the distance. She watches as her friends face falls and her eyes begin to well up. Jesus, she knew Paige was a weepy drunk but she didn’t quite comprehend the extent of it.

Twisting her head around so she can see the problem, Rey frowns when she realizes Paige is looking at Phasma chatting away to another girl from the year below.

“Hey,” Rey says, reaching her hand and grasping hold of Paige’s wrist. “What’s going on?”

Instead of answering, Paige snatches her arm away from Rey as if she’s got the bubonic plague. She shoulders past her out of the kitchen door and heads straight for the stairs. Rey runs out after her, calling her name, but she doesn't turn around. As she follows her friend, she catches sight of Phasma’s guilty expression.

She stops. “If you’ve said anything to hurt her, I will rip your face off with zero hesitation,” she threatens. She looks Phasma up and down, trying to think of an adequate insult for this moment in time. “You big tree,” she adds at the end.

She doesn’t wait for Phasma’s comeback, instead opting to run up the stairs after Paige. Even in her drunken state, she reckons her friend has probably gone to the bathroom. Rey throws open pretty much every door in the house before she finally finds it, but when she gets there it’s locked tightly.

“Paige,” she calls from the other side of the door. “Are you in there?”

She can hear a few snuffles, before a timid voice calls out, “Go away.”

“C’mon,” Rey says, resting her forehead against the door. “Let me in and we can talk about what just happened.”

After a few seconds, the door unlocks and a teary Paige stands behind it. Rey quickly jumps in and shuts the door softly behind her so no one can interrupt the conversation. Paige sits down on the toilet seat and grabs a few tissues out of a box on the cabinet.

“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?” Rey asks, jumping up onto the unit beside the sink. She doesn’t dare to look in the mirror – she knows her make up will be smudged and her eyes will be heavy with the effects of alcohol.

Paige sighs – a long and fueled sigh, which makes Rey wonder what the hell is going on. “I’m sorry,” she begins, sniffling a little. “I haven’t told you something really big and it’s super fucked up.”

Rey’s heart stutters in her chest. Automatically, she assumes the worst. “What is it?” she asks, trying to remain calm and composed. On the inside, her anxiety is through the roof. Being drunk in these situations is definitely not the best idea.

“I’ve been seeing Phasma.”

Oh my god. What the hell.

 _“Phasma?”_ Rey shrieks. “Out of everyone! Freaking _Phasma_? For how long?”

“I knew you would react like this!” Paige wails, clutching her tissue to her chest. “That’s why we didn’t tell you.”

“Well, it’s just a freaking shock. I mean Phasma is like our enemy and–wait,” Rey frowns. “What do you mean by ‘we’”?

Paige looks up at her guiltily. “Well–”

“Who all knows about this?” Rey interrupts angrily.

“Everyone,” Paige admits slowly, biting her lip so hard she leaves a shiny red mark.

Rey’s mouth hangs open. “Everyone? Everyone knows apart from me?” she asks. “The whole gang knows?”

Her traitorous friend nods her head shamefacedly. “I’m sorry–” she starts, but Rey is throwing the door open and storming out before Paige can even finish her sentence.

She trudges downstairs, ignoring Finn and Poe’s calls for her to come back. They all knew. They all freaking knew that one of her best friends was seeing someone. In fact, not just _someone_ – seeing _Phasma_. Their sworn enemy since freaking junior year. And no one told her. Not one single person. They’ve all been hiding this from her. She’s the only one kept out of the loop. As per usual.

Fuck them all. She’s going home.

Her head spins as she crashes through the front door. Hot, angry tears spill down her cheeks and she struggles to hold in the small hiccups that escape her mouth. She’s too drunk and she needs to be away from all these people. She needs to go home.

 _Owen’s house isn’t actually that far_ , she reasons as she traipses down his porch steps. _I can walk._

There’s a handful of people out on the front lawn – Ben Solo included. He’s standing beside the bushes with a pretty girl and she’s hanging on his every word, eyes rapt with interest and concentration. Is she the only person in the entire school who doesn’t fall over her feet whenever Ben’s around? Yeah, sure, he’s a little hot in that nerdy-artist way, but that doesn’t make up for his crappy personality.

This is all his fault. Everything started going to shit as soon as he moved here. Her friends don’t trust her enough to tell her things about their lives and she’s no longer the smartest person in the school and there’s resentment bubbling under her skin every second she’s around him.

“This is all your fault,” Rey relays to him drunkenly, barging in front of the pretty girl so she has Ben’s full attention. The girl lets out an undignified squawk before scoffing and storming off, muttering something about _“crazy, jealous girlfriends.”_ Whatever that’s supposed to mean.

Ben takes one look at her – make up running down her face, hair scraped back into a messy bun - and says, _“Shit.”_

“Fuck off, Solo,” she says, wiping the tears away from her face. “You are _the_ worst.”

Rationally, she knows she’s being stupid. The anger and the crying stems from the copious amount of alcohol she’s just consumed and has nothing to do with reality. However, in her drunken state, this is definitely the worst thing that’s ever happened to her.

She stumbles down the sidewalk in the direction of her house. She reckons it’s probably a twenty-minute walk, which isn’t really that bad, but she wonders how she’ll fare considering she’s absolutely smashed.

“Rey!” Ben calls from behind her. “You can’t walk home alone! I’m going to get someone.”

“No!” she snarls, ignoring his protests and continuing to walk down the road. She checks over her shoulder to see if he’s still there, but he’s disappeared into the crowded house. “Fucking Ben Solo,” she mutters to herself. “Stupid idiot. Stupid friends. Stupid Phasma.”

After roughly five minutes of walking on her own, she hears approaching footsteps sprinting towards her. She turns around expecting Finn, or maybe Poe, but instead finds Ben. He’s red-faced and panting with his heavy jacket on, hair plastered to his forehead. He’s obviously just ran for five minutes to find her. Nerds like Ben don’t run, which is probably why he’s so out of breath.

“What the hell? Go away,” she demands.

“Why did you leave?” he asks once he’s fully caught up to her. He strides beside her with his long limbs, and for the first time Rey realizes how _big_ he actually is.

She scoffs. “None of your business.”

“Why were you crying?”

“Again,” she sneers. “It’s none of your business.”

“Fine.”

The pair descend into silence. It’s a tense and heated silence, once which makes her pay attention to every little intake of breath and movement. It’s sobering. It’s too much and not enough all at once.

“What are you doing?” she asks, just for something to say. “It’s only twelve o’clock. You can’t leave the party already.”

He gives her a flat look. “I’m just going on a midnight stroll,” he says sarcastically. When she raises her eyebrows at him, he says, “I’m walking you home. Obviously.”

“Why?”

“I’m hoping I can use you as bait if a mugger comes to steal my cash,” he replies.

Rey grins. “It’s fine,” she mocks. “You don’t need to tell me you need me for self-protection. We both know I’m the tough one.”

She watches as he bites his lip, clearly struggling to contain his laughter. She tries to pretend the sight doesn’t make her stomach flip.

It’s going to be a long walk home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CLIFFHANGER!!!!
> 
> I'm sorry, I'm so mean ;) But you'll be happy to know I've already started working on the next chapter! 
> 
> My tumblr is: bakubitchh if anyone is interested in talking to me through there! If you liked the fic, please comment and let me know. I'm a slut for validation :)))


	6. Chapter 6

“All I’m saying is that on first impressions you can be a little aggressive!”

“Aggressive?” Ben snarls. “I’m _not_ aggressive.” She gives him a look. “Okay, maybe that was a little aggressive but that’s because you’re pushing a non-issue.”

 Rey groans. “You are actually insufferable.”

They’ve been walking for fifteen minutes, bickering back and forth about their first impressions of each other. Ben tells her that he thought she was a preppy, Taylor Swift loving cheerleader who was going to practice routines out her back yard every day, blaring loud music. He tells her that his opinion of her worsened when he realized she’s actually a soccer loving jock who has the highest GPA in the school. Rey laughs, because it’s funny really. Ben is funny. She’ll never admit it.

“Do you think we were destined to hate each other?” he asks thoughtfully after a few seconds of silence.

Which is a pretty loaded question, Rey thinks.

Ben is probably a lot more drunk than she originally assumed. He’s usually the strong, silent type but he’s been talking her ear off the whole walk about fate and killing the past. He’s a freaking psychopath, but Rey can’t help but find his drunken ramblings amusing. Maybe that’s just because she’s also intoxicated and clearly finding everything hilarious. Talking to Ben has made her forget all about the anger she’s been harboring for her friends, which she supposes is the only good thing about him joining her on her walk home.

“Probably,” she agrees, nodding her head rapidly. “It’s like every high school cliché movie. You’re the hot nerd and I’m the nerdy jock.”

“Hot?” he parrots, smirking roguishly.

She rolls her eyes. “Oh, c’mon. The girls swarm you as soon as you enter a room.” She points in his general vicinity with a grimace on her face. “You’ve got that stupid, arty vibe going on. Girls dig that.”

“But you don’t?” He genuinely sounds curious.  

She snorts. “I don’t like assholes.”

“Thank god,” he says. “We’d make a terrible couple.”

She doesn’t know why, but the thought of them ever being a couple makes her laugh out loud. “I think that’s the only thing we’ll ever agree on.”

When they finally stop outside their respective houses, Rey finds that she’s feeling a little disappointed. For the first time ever, she’s actually enjoyed spending time with Ben. She doesn’t know if it’s because she feels alone after everything that’s happened tonight or if it’s because drunk Ben is clearly much funnier than sober Ben.

They’re just about to go their separate ways when Rey realizes she’s fucked up big time. “Shit,” she curses, patting down her jeans pockets. “I forgot my jacket at Owen’s.”

“So?”

“So?” she repeats. “My house keys were in there!” She groans loudly, putting her head in her hands. She’ll need to ring the doorbell and wake Maz up, which she’ll definitely not be happy about. “Maz is going to kill me.”

“Just come through my house,” Ben shrugs. “Is your window unlocked?”

“Yes!” she says excitedly. She always leaves her window unlocked, murderers be damned.

A small flare of hope wells up in her chest. It would be a good idea – she really doesn’t want to piss Maz off, after all. But then all hope is squashed when she realizes that she’ll need to go into Ben’s _house_. Walking home with him at a distance is fine, but this is strangely intimate. She doesn’t want to be classed as his friend, and this seems like a boundary they just shouldn’t cross if they want to remain detached enemies.

But then, what option does she have? Waking up Maz (when she hardly gets any sleep as it is), having her grounding Rey for leaving her keys at the party and being generally irresponsible?

“C’mon then,” Ben says, dragging her out of her inner turmoil.

Rey can tell this is going to be a big mistake, but in her drunken state her limbs don’t seem to be cooperating with her brain. She follows him up the path to his front door and waits with anticipation as he uses his keys to unlock it. 

When he opens the door, she doesn’t even get the chance to step inside before an enormous brown dog is leaping at her, knocking her off her feet and making her land on the porch floor with a hard _thud_.

“Oops,” Ben laughs. “Forgot to warn you about Chewie. Hope you like dogs.”

Chewie, who literally looks like a miniature horse, licks her face until she struggles to breathe. She snorts and pushes him off her gently. “Jesus, he’s big. What kind of dog is he?”

“He’s a Newfoundland,” Ben says, leaning against the door frame and watching her interact with Chewie. “Most people are scared of him.”

The dog is so big Rey uses him to hoist herself up into a standing position. “I can see right through you, Ben Solo,” she says, wiping the dust off her ass. “You didn’t tell me about Chewie cause you wanted to scare me.” He gives her an innocent look as if to say _who, me?_ But she ignores him in favor of wiping a few stray hairs away from her face. “Well, jokes on you. I love dogs.”

“Ah, you caught me,” he says with a monotone voice, rolling his eyes. “My evil plan has been foiled.”

She barges past him into his house, not caring about formalities. “You’re such a little bitch sometimes.”

Chewie bounds in after her, so close that his gigantic paws are stepping on the backs of her heels. She doesn’t even need to bend down to scratch his head, he’s that tall.

“How come I haven’t seen Chewie?” Rey asks. “I think he would be pretty hard to miss.”

“He’s been at my uncle Luke’s,” Ben says. “He’s the reason we moved up here.”

He shuts the front door behind them, leaving them both in darkness. For the first time, she’s left alone with him in close quarters. There’s nowhere to go to escape if he turns out to be a serial killer with a partiality for seventeen-year-old brunettes.

Rey tries to diffuse the awkwardness by saying, “Cool house.”

Ben nods, but he looks super uncomfortable. “My room is up this way,” he whispers, evidently trying not to wake his mom and dad.

Following him up the stairs, she takes in the array of family portraits lining the walls. She sees one in particular of the family at the beach which makes her snicker. In the picture, Han and Leia are sporting the biggest smiles on their faces, while Ben stands in the middle looking sullen as always. It’s nice to know that Ben doesn’t just look like that around her.

“You are such a grump,” she mutters, sensing a pattern in all of their pictures. “You’re not smiling in any of these.”

They reach the top of the landing, and Ben winces at the noise of the floorboards creaking. “My face doesn’t do that.”

“Your face doesn’t smile?” she repeats flatly.

He ignores her comment in favor of grabbing her by the shoulders and ushering her into one of the rooms at the end of the hallway. She pretends his touch doesn’t set her nerves aflame.

Rey takes in his bedroom, entranced. It seems strange to be viewing it from this side of things, knowing that anytime she’s gotten a sneak peek it’s been from her safe window view. Now, she’s right in on the action. She can see the empty water bottles he’s had scattered everywhere for months (something she had noticed whenever he had his curtains open wide). She wanders over to the other side of the room, finally able to see the names of the books he has in his bookshelf. Some of the titles surprise her – she didn’t peg Ben as the _Romeo and Juliet_ type of guy.

She notices his unmade bed, the textbooks on his bedside table and the calligraphy set on his desk. All things she’s seen from her own bedroom window, but somehow it feels more intense here. Or, maybe it’s just because Ben is watching her observe his room from the door. He’s leaning his back against it suavely, with his hair falling in front of his eyes and a small, private smile on his face.

“Nosy, aren’t you?” he asks, but it almost sounds fond. Almost.

Rey sighs exasperatedly. “Are you going to help me get over the damn tree or what?”

“Why would I do that when I can just watch you suffer from here?”

She pries his window open and sticks one leg out, content to sit on the windowsill for a second before she begins her climb. She knows she’s too drunk to even attempt it alone. “If I die, I _will_ haunt you.”

He rolls his eyes before stalking towards her. “I can’t even deal with you for five minutes never mind an eternity,” he says. She squawks as he forcibly picks her up by the waist like she weighs nothing and sets her down on the roof in front of his window. “You go first and I’ll be right behind you.”

Feeling shaky – although she doesn’t know if it’s from the height or from Ben’s touch – she grabs hold of the nearest tree branch and climbs on. She shuffles her way along slowly, feeling calmed by Ben’s presence beside her as he follows closely. He puts a hand on her back, making sure she doesn’t fall backwards when it gets to the trickier branches. Rey will never admit this, but she’s extremely grateful. Without him, she’d probably be lying on the grass right now with a broken neck.

When she gets to the other side, she throws open her unlocked window and climbs in. She’s surprised when Ben’s trails behind her, swinging his long legs over her windowsill and stepping into her room. She had expected him to just see her to the window and then climb back to his house.

It’s totally bizarre seeing him standing in her purple room. Feeling a little self-conscious, she uses her foot to quickly push her stray underwear under her bed.

“Will your mom and dad be angry that I came through your house?” Rey asks, just for something to say.

“Nah,” Ben says. Although, he doesn’t even spare her a glance, too busy scrutinizing the items in her room. She guesses now she knows how he felt ten minutes ago. “They’ll probably be happy,” he continues after he’s done with his inspection. “They’ve wanted me to rebel since I started high school.”

Rey laughs. “Seriously?”

Ben’s eyes finally lock on hers. “My parents and my uncle were a part of this big resistance group in the seventies,” he says. “I guess they thought I would grow up and want to stick it to the man too.”

“You’re telling me that you _don’t_ want to stick it to the man?” she mocks, eyebrows raised high.

He laughs quietly in response, but doesn’t answer her question.

Rey watches as his eyes wander around her room again, finally landing on her desk. He strolls over and picks up a picture of her, Poe and Finn with ice-cream smeared all over their faces. Studying it for a few seconds, his face takes on a small frown before he sets the picture down gently. Next, he starts flicking through the textbooks that have been left open on her desk.

“I take it you’ve started studying?” he speculates, dragging his finger along her AP biology textbook.

Her gaze follows the movement with rapt fascination before she realizes he’s asked her a question. “Uh, yeah,” she falters, trying to focus on his face and not his hands.

“Maybe I will have some competition for valedictorian, then,” he says softly, smirking at her like he knows exactly where her train of thought has just taken her. He looks over towards the window. “I better get back.”

She bites her lip. “Thanks for walking me home,” she says sincerely. He watches her mouth, which makes the situation seem all too real for her. “But the rivalry is being reinstated for school on Monday.”

He grins impishly, looking exactly like his father. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

 

***

 

After she’s removed her makeup and gotten changed into her pajamas, she catches sight of Ben still awake and sitting on his bed from her window.

She flips him the bird just to make sure things go back to normal.

 

***

 

Monday rolls around and Rey hasn’t seen or spoken to her friends since the party. Which is strange, because she speaks to Finn and Poe every single day. Maz drives her to school since she doesn’t feel like messaging anyone for a lift. As she strides through the corridors, her eyebrows turn down into a frown when she spots her friends standing in front of her locker, chatting animatedly. She stalls mid-walk, hoisting her backpack higher up on her shoulder awkwardly. 

When they notice her presence they snap to attention, all shouting over each other to get her attention. Rey can’t even understand what any of them are saying.

“Guys,” she snaps. Her friends go quiet. “One at a time.”

Paige steps forward. “We’re sorry, Rey,” she says. “It was me who told them not to tell you. This is my fault.”

Rey sighs. She had planned to march into school and ignore them–just on principle–but now as her friends are standing before her, she finds that she can’t hold a grudge. “No, this one is on me.” She brings Paige into a tight embrace. “I’m sorry if I made you feel like I wouldn’t be okay with you and Phasma dating.”

“You didn’t,” Paige says, unfurling herself from Rey’s hold and looking up at her with a guilty expression. “I just got a stupid idea into my head and then I couldn’t stop thinking about it.”

“I _was_ shocked at first,” Rey admits. “But if you’re happy, then I’m happy.” She leans her head against her locker. “And if you think Phasma is cool, then I’m cool.”

Poe whoops loudly. “Phew,” he says, wiping fake sweat away from his forehead. “I’m glad that’s over.”

“Can we all just be friends again?” Rose asks sweetly.

Finn nods in agreement. “I’ve missed the group chat going off every five seconds.”

They all look at each other and share a grin. It’s going to take something much bigger than Phasma to break up their friendship.


	7. Chapter 7

The group are sitting at their usual spot in the cafeteria, talking animatedly about the recent banning of chocolate milk in the lunch hall, when Poe interrupts the conversation to say something _“extremely important.”_  

“Guys,” Poe begins nervously, wringing his hands together. “Finn and I are dating.” He looks around the group, waiting patiently for a reaction. When he doesn’t get one, he frowns.

Finn is repeatedly flattening his empty water bottle in his hands, making a loud crunching noise. Rey thinks it’s probably an anxious gesture – not that they have anything to be nervous about, however.

“So?” Rose says. “We all saw you sneaking upstairs at Owen’s party on Saturday night.”

Finn coughs. “Yikes.” He looks at Poe guiltily. “We didn’t think you guys saw that.”

“I think the whole party saw that,” Rey mutters out the corner of her mouth. She chews absently on her juice box straw. “You’re not exactly discrete.”

Rose murmurs her agreement, which makes Poe’s cheeks turn a delightful shade of pink.

“In all seriousness though,” Rey says in a sobering tone. “We’re really happy for you.” Rey beams so hard at her friends that her cheeks begin to hurt. “It’s been a long time coming.”

Poe and Finn share a similar smile, filled with so much love and affection that she immediately has to look away, feeling like she’s interrupting an intimate moment.

Before Rose and Rey have time to dwell on her friend’s news, Paige ambles over to the table and slides into one of the many empty seats. Phasma follows closely behind her, looking a little uncomfortable and lost.

Maybe she _is_ lost?

That’s the only reason that Rey can think of which explains why Phasma has left her usual group and is now standing awkwardly behind their table. Rey can see her gripping her lunch tray tightly, knuckles going white under the pressure. 

“Phasma is sitting here today,” Paige says resolutely, looking everyone squarely in the eyes like she’s daring anyone to question her life decisions. Finally, her gaze lands on Rey and she holds it for a few tense seconds.

Evidently, she assumes Rey is going to be the most problematic out of the bunch.

Well, _Rey’s_ definitely not going to say anything. Honestly, she does actually feel a little sorry Phasma, who’s clutching her lunch tray to her chest while she waits on some sort of disapproval.

Rey rolls her eyes. _“Obviously_ it’s fine. _”_

With a tentative smile, Phasma sits down beside Paige and unfolds her lunch from its container. The blond-haired girl doesn’t seem to notice the quiet tension that’s settled over the table, too preoccupied with her ham and cheese sandwich.

Truthfully, Rey has no idea what to say. No one seems to be making a move to improve the situation.

Therefore, like any respectable person, she decides that she’s just going to sit back and let someone else take the reins. It’s not like she has an _obligation_ to try and make small talk with Phasma. They’ve never been friends – not like Finn and Phasma, anyway. Out of everyone, it should be _Finn_ trying to make the awkward conversations a little more bearable. Not her.

However, as Rey looks over towards her oldest friend, she realizes there’s no way he’s going to be any help whatsoever.  

The bloody traitor is staring at Poe dreamily, biting his lip and running his fingers over his knuckles, completely unaware that Phasma has even joined the group.

God dammit, Finn.

It’s silence for a solid minute (Rey counts literally every second), until finally–dear god, _finally_ –Poe pipes up and begins talking about the merits of having a soccer coach instead of dragging a senior student in to be captain.  

Which really opens up conversation, since apparently Phasma is an avid soccer fan and plays in her spare time.

After the soccer exchange, the conversation descends into more serious debates like the impractical methods of Mr. Threepio’s teaching and the drama classes Paige has roped Rose into. It’s all relatively normal. Well, normal for them, that is.

In fact, towards the end of lunch, Rey begins not entirely hating Phasma’s presence.

Which is a definite improvement.

 

***

 

“Do you think we should say something to Ben and Hux?” Rose asks the next day at lunch. “They look a little lonely.”

Six pairs of eyes swivel round to face the other side of the lunch hall. Immediately, Rey spots Ben and Hux sitting at their usual table. Ben, as always, is reading a book, completely uninterested in the ginger-haired boy sitting across from him. Similarly, Hux is fiddling on his phone, also unaware of Ben’s presence.

It all looks a little sad.

But still, Rey can’t help but say, _“No.”_

“Why not?” Paige asks. “You’re not still pretending to hate him, are you?”

Which definitely doesn’t make the blush rise high on her cheeks. Nope. No sirree.

Phasma grunts, shoving a fry into her mouth. “I know for a fact he doesn’t shut up about you.”

“Aww,” Poe smirks. “See? They’re in love.”

“Absolutely not.” Rey repeatedly stabs a carrot with her fork, trying to ignore the butterflies she gets whenever someone tells her Ben talks about her.  

Before anyone can protest, Phasma turns around and catches Ben’s attention, beckoning the two boys over to their table in the corner of the room. Ben and Hux look at each other questioningly before reaching a final decision. They shake their heads, impolitely declining Phasma’s offer. Ben goes back to reading his book, and Hux continues to play on his phone.

Not the best of company, Rey thinks.

“Oh well.” Phasma shrugs. “You guys are funnier than them anyway.”

And that’s how Phasma becomes a permanent fixture in the group.  

 

***

 

After a week of Phasma’s presence at lunch, the blond-haired girl saunters into the room, determined expression on her face.

“I want to join the soccer team,” is the first thing she says when she sits down, making the groups conversation grind to an outstanding halt. 

Poe raises a speculative eyebrow. “Can you play?” he asks after a few seconds of surprised silence.

“Of course I can play,” Phasma says. “I wouldn’t be asking if I couldn’t.”

He mulls it over for a couple of second. “Lando _has_ just broken his leg,” Poe considers. He claps his hands together with a bright smile. “Okay, come to practice on Tuesday and we’ll see how you get on.”

“Cool.” Phasma smiles widely and bumps her shoulder into Paige’s. Who, by the way, looks like the proudest girlfriend ever.

Rey reminds herself to never be that disgustingly in love when she gets into a relationship. 

She has to admit, however, the idea of Phasma being on her soccer team doesn’t entirely make her want to puke. She thinks maybe she was far too harsh on her initial judging of Phasma, which makes her feel extremely guilty.

“I hope you don’t mind,” Phasma begins hesitantly. “I told Ben and Hux they could sit here today.”

Huh. Maybe she doesn’t feel so guilty after all.

Rose frowns. “Don’t you ask them every day?”

“I think they’ll join us today,” Phasma says. She looks at her watch. “Actually, they should be over any minute.”

Rey looks over towards the boys’ usual table with a mounting level of panic. Her heart hammers in her chest when she sees Ben and Hux gathering up their things and heading in her direction.

“Shit,” Rey breathes. _“Shit.”_

Ben and Hux glumly approach the table, looking like they would rather die than be here. She’s desperately looking everywhere but them, determinedly trying to avoid Ben’s gaze. However, the feeling of being watched overwhelms her, and she finds herself looking up from under her lashes, latching onto the image of Ben standing over her. She catches his gaze. He looks away.

“Hey!” Poe says brightly. “It’s cool that you came over. I thought for a second you guys were just going to sit over there because you didn’t like us or something.” He shoots Ben a crooked smile, but Ben just sighs sullenly.

“Yeah, no noticeable signs of aversion there,” Rey says sarcastically. She gives Ben a shit-eating grin, which–if possible–makes his frown deepen further.

But he doesn’t make any comments. He simply sits down on the chair in front of her and gets his book out. He opens it up delicately and proceeds to ignore the group, which makes Rey reel back, surprised. He doesn’t talk for the entirety of the lunch period.

Strangely, Hux is the person who joins in with conversation the most. It takes Rey a while to get used to his dry sense of humor, but once she does, she finds herself laughing along with his jokes.

It’s probably the weirdest lunch she’s ever had.

 

***

 

Ben brings a book to lunch every day. Poe and Rose had tried to engage him in conversation about music, movies and sport, but after receiving monosyllabic answers, they stopped trying. Finn tried to rope him into a discussion over English homework a couple of days later, but even he had been met with a frosty reception from Ben.

Needless to say, Ben was a tough nut to crack.

On Tuesday, Rey determines that she’s going to be the one to get Ben to talk. As her friends are preoccupied with their own conversations (Rey thinks it’s probably about sex if Poe’s rude hand gestures are anything to go by), she sits across from her next door neighbor and stares at him, trying to evaluate her best course of action.

“So,” she grins finally, snatching the book from out of Ben’s hands before he has time to react. “Whatcha reading?” She stares at the front cover, surprised to see that it’s _Othello_ , one of her favorite Shakespeare plays. “Ahh,” she hums. “I thought it would be _Romeo and Juliet_.” At Ben’s blank stare, she says, “Y’know, cause you had that in your bookshelf?”

He just stares at her. He doesn’t even blink.

She clears her throat awkwardly. “I didn’t peg you as a romantic.”

“I’m not,” he says simply, still watching her with his eyes narrowed.

“ _Othello_ is quite romantic,” Rey shrugs. “If you think about it.”

“ _What?”_ Ben says slowly. “He killed his wife. On what planet is that romantic?”

“He done it because he thought she was cheating on him,” she says. “I know it’s not an acceptable excuse, but he was being manipulated by someone he thought was his friend. He loved his wife.”

“Cool motive, still murder,” he mutters.

Rey’s eyes widen in delight. “Hey!” she grins. “You watch _Brooklyn nine-nine_?”

Ben gives her an even look, completely ignoring her question. The hopeful smile falls off her face as he slowly takes his book from her grasp and opens it to the page he was on. He begins reading again, back to snubbing her presence.

Nevertheless, she _had_ gotten him to utter more than one word.

Rey counts it as a win.

 

***

 

Phasma ends up nailing the soccer try out.

At the end of their hour-long practice, Rey is drenched in sweat and Phasma is officially on the team. Paige and Rose had been watching from the bleachers, cheering and clapping along with the training. After practice, they traipse down the steel steps carefully and jump onto the field, meeting the players in the middle.

“Celebratory ice-cream anyone?” Finn asks, wiping his forehead with the bottom of his soccer kit.

Poe takes a swig of his water bottle. “Oh, absolutely,” he says when he’s finished, water dribbling down his chin.

“Count me in,” Paige and Rose say simultaneously.

Their twin intuitions will never not be creepy. Rey doesn’t know how many times they’ve said the exact same thing at the exact same time.

They’re making their way to the car park, chatting about the new plays they can add with Phasma in the team, when the school doors open and out steps a handful of individuals. They’ve all got folders and binders in their arms, meaning it’s probably not detention they were just in.

 _There must be a club on,_ Rey thinks.

After the small gaggle of people departs, Ben Solo emerges, head bent towards the ground, clutching a handful of his own books in his arms. Rey’s sharp intake of breath is piercing in the quiet parking lot, and she suddenly feels overexposed in her tight-fitting (not to mention sweaty) soccer uniform.

“Ben!” Phasma calls. “Hey!”

Ben’s head snaps up to face his friend, but his expression darkens when he notices the rest of the group following behind her. Reluctantly, he trudges over to them, scowling the entire way. “Hey,” he says softly when he reaches them. He turns to Phasma. “You made the team then?”

“Obviously I did,” Phasma says cockily. “We’re going for ice-cream. Wanna join?”

Crap. Not only is he sitting with them at lunch, he’s now going to be participating in group activities? Rey doesn’t know how she feels about this development.

Ben’s eyebrows raise, and he looks over towards Rey questioningly.

Rey sighs. She’s got an unfamiliar feeling blooming in her chest, but she can’t quite pin-point what is it. She does know, however, that if she rejects Ben’s presence in the group it’ll only make Poe and Finn think her feelings for Ben run deeper than assumed.

Which would be terrible, considering she still hates Ben’s guts.

“I guess it’s fine if you come,” she says unenthusiastically, arms curled protectively around her waist. She doesn’t want Ben to see the sweat stains that have gathered on her soccer strip.

They hold eye-contact for a few anxious seconds before Rey breaks it, looking over towards Paige and Phasma who are both grinning widely.

“I don’t know,” Ben says uneasily. “I have to study.”

Phamsa rolls her eyes and claps Ben on the back. “You’ve just been in math for an hour, nerd. I’m sure you can take time out of your busy schedule to join us this once.”

Ben looks around the group, but Rey firmly avoids eye-contact.

“Fine,” he says. “I’m in.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ANOTHER CLIFFHANGER!!!!! Hint for next chapter: they go get ice-cream at the beach. 
> 
> So, who noticed that the Othello story is like a lot like Anakin and Padme???? Because I didn't even notice that before I started writing this. And I'm a really big Othello fan too! 
> 
> Has anyone else read Othello and noticed this???


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter continued!

Thankfully, Ben ends up riding with Phasma and Paige, while Rey calls shotgun in Poe’s car alongside Finn and Rose. The music is cranked up to the highest possible volume, the windows are down and _It’s Britney_ _Bitch_ rings through the car (and straight into Rey’s eardrums) thanks to a combination of Britney Spears’ spectacular voice and Poe and Rose’s dulcet tones.

Apart from it’s not really so melodic, since her best friends are about as in tune as Rey is when she’s singing in the shower. Which is, not at all.

Could this be any gayer? She really doesn’t think so.

 _This isn’t so bad,_ Rey reasons as she sits up front beside Poe. She glances out at the wing mirror, seeing the hood of Phasma’s car cruising at their rear. _Ben’s in the car behind, I’m in the car in front. We’re not even sharing the same space._

She’ll just avoid engaging him in conversation and then nothing has to change. They can exist together without killing each other, as long as she can evade him for the rest of the school year.

 _And then also college,_ she remembers glumly, since they’ve both applied to the same place. Who knows, maybe he won’t get in. Or, maybe he _will_ get in, and then follow her around for the rest of her life. Weirdly, the thought doesn’t make her want to puke as much as she assumed it would.

When they arrive at the beach the sun is beginning to set on the horizon, casting scenic orange rays of light over the sand. With mounting panic, Rey realizes that it’s five to six – if they’re not fast, the ice-cream shop is going to close. As soon Poe’s Honda Civic rolls into a parking space, all plans of staying away from Ben are shot to hell. The group slam themselves out of their respective cars (Rey nearly falls to the ground she’s that desperate to get her rainbow surprise ice-cream) and sprint into the shop, all clipping each other’s heels in their rush.  

Unfortunately, both Rey and Ben reach the parlor at the exact same time, which proves to be a bit of a disaster. Their bodies crash together as they both try to squeeze past each other to fit through the door. She’s pretty sure Ben’s hand just brushed her ass in his attempt to pry the door open a little further, but she’s definitely not mentioning _that_ out loud.

“Fucking hell, Ben,” Rey grunts. “Move your fat ass out the way.”

“Speak for yourself,” Ben replies cattily.

They finally manage to wedge themselves past the door with the help of Poe, who gives them both a shove from the other end. The sweat has gathered on the back of Rey’s neck after running to the shop, so she hopes that Ben didn’t get a whiff of her clammy soccer kit when he was up close and personal with her.

The group manage to get their ice-cream with a minute to spare (despite Rey and Ben’s hold up with the door), and they take themselves over to the beach to watch the sun set. Ice-cream dribbles down Rey’s chin, and she tries to inconspicuously wipe it away without anyone realizing that she’s a complete riot when it comes to food. However, as she looks around the group to ensure that her messy eating habits have gone unnoticed, she realizes that Ben’s eyes are locked on her chin. He’s smirking at her, face illuminated by the orange glow of the sun. Rey thinks he looks kind of beautiful like this – relaxed and holding himself up with one arm while the other grips his ice-cream cone. His long, dark hair falls in front of his face as he eats. She wonders what conditioner he uses, and if he’ll lend her some.

“I love this place,” Finn says, licking a stripe along his ice-cream cone. “Poe, Rey and I used to ride our bikes here when we were kids.”

Poe grins at him. “The good old days.”

“Rey had just been adopted by Maz, so she was super needy,” Finn laughs. “She squeezed her way into the group whether we liked it or not.”

“And you _did_ like it,” Rey says, pretending to be outraged. She throws her arm around Poe’s shoulder, pulling him in for a sideways hug. “I made the group dynamic better.”

Poe grunts under the attention. “Rey has a habit of worming her way into people’s lives,” he says. “And then you just can’t get rid of her.”

She thinks she hears Ben muttering _“Tell me about it,”_ under his breath, but she’s not entirely sure, so doesn’t question him. But Phasma gives Ben a shit-eating grin, which tells her that maybe she did hear right.

“Now look at us,” Rose says, beaming widely, which makes Rey’s attention snap quickly away from Ben’s face. “We’re all one big family.”

Rey snorts in disbelief. “One big _dysfunctional_ family, don’t you mean.” She looks at Ben, who’s tracing patters in the sand with his fingers. She reckons he’s probably feeling a little awkward with all the friendship talk, since he wouldn’t know what a friend was if it bit him on the ass. “Some of us don’t want to be friends,” she snipes. “Some of us want to read every lunch like losers.”

“Play nice,” Poe warns.

“Maybe he’s just socially awkward,” Paige says, talking about Ben like he’s not sitting directly across from her.

Phasma laughs loudly at her girlfriends’ comment, and when she stops, her face is still lit up with pure delight. “Oh, Ben is _really_ up for friendship.” She nudges Ben in the arm with her elbow. “Aren’t you? You would love to be Rey’s _friend_.”

Something about Phasma’s tone seems off, but Rey is too tired to make any sense of it.

“Bitch,” Ben hisses. “I will cut you.”

Ruffling Ben’s hair in a sisterly fashion, Phasma looks at him with a fondness Rey’s never noticed before. Maybe Ben isn’t as bad at friendship as she thought.

The sun is nearly below the horizon now, so the group decides to call it a night. They walk back to Poe and Phasma’s car, with Ben and Rey trailing awkwardly behind the energetic group. For some reason, she wants to be close to Ben, but she doesn’t know how to talk to him. It kind of makes her hate him even more. Why can’t he just have a conversation with her like a normal human being? It’s stupid. He’s stupid.

Poe is unlocking his car when Finn ruins her life entirely.

“Maybe Phasma should take Rey?” he suggests innocently. “She’s dropping Ben off anyway.”

Rey swivels around to face him with an outraged expression. “Traitor,” she snarls.

“Finn has a point,” Phasma says, twirling her car keys around her finger.

“Fine,” Rey replies, but she’s really not impressed. She doesn’t look at Ben, too scared to see his expression. He’s probably grimacing with distaste, or something similar.

She gets into Phasma’s car with a timid trepidation, resigning herself to an awkward ten-minute car journey. Paige rides shotgun in the front with Phasma, while she’s stuck in the back with Ben. He doesn’t even spare her a second glance or word – he just stares out of the window, so all Rey can see is the back of his dark hair. He’s bouncing his leg up and down, which makes her think maybe he’s just as uncomfortable as she is.

But alas, _This Charming Man_ is blasting at full volume from the radio (Rey definitely knew she’d have to listen to this indie shit as soon as she stepped into Ben’s general vicinity), and she thinks maybe – if his head resting against the back seat is anything to go by – Morrissey’s deep tones have soothed him into a state of relaxation.

Or maybe not, considering he’s now biting at his nails with a renowned vigor that she’s never seen before.

Just as she suspected, they sit in a stony silence for the duration of journey (despite Phasma and Paige singing along to the indie tunes in the background, which only makes the car ride slightly more bearable).

When they pull up outside both of their houses, Phasma turns down the volume on the radio, which makes a still hush fall over the car.

“Well, that was fun,” Rey says abruptly, just to avoid the awkwardness creeping into the atmosphere. “Thanks for the lift Phasma, but homework is calling my name so I’d better–” she jabs her thumb in the direction of her house, “–boost.”

Which sounds pretty lame, even for her. Paige, who’s twisted around in the front seat to face her, gives Rey one speculative eyebrow raise. Shit, if they had been on opposite ends of this painful conversation, Rey would have done the exact same thing.

“Me too,” Ben says, already opening his side of the car door. “Thanks.”

“Any time,” Phasma says, winking at Rey through the mirror.

She’s freaking out when she steps out of the car. Rey knows one of two things are going to happen: either she’s going to have to make awkward small talk with Ben, or they’re going to walk into their respective houses at the exact same time without having a conversation. She thinks number two would probably be the worst and most awkward option; however, she can’t help but feel the longing that blooms in her chest as she glances at the stretch of path to her front door, where she would be safely inside and away from him. But she can’t just _not_ talk to him, especially when they’re standing right next to each other.

God dammit, she really hates having her arch nemesis as a neighbor.

They both watch Phasma’s car pull away from the kerb in silence, and Rey resigns herself to her fate of being uncomfortably quiet around Ben for the rest of her life.

And she really thought they had been getting along better recently. But he’s clearly back to being his usual asshole self. She can’t say she’s surprised, though. She doesn’t think he has it in him to be nice for more than five minutes at a time, and, evidently, he’s used up his niceness quota for the month.

She spins around on her heel, ready to march up the path to her front door, when Ben’s quiet voice pierces the silent night.  

“It wouldn’t be so bad,” he blurts out, which makes her stop in her tracks. “If you joined electronics.”

“Come again?”

He sighs exasperatedly at her, pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers. “You shouldn’t skip out on electronics because of me,” he says. “If you want to join, then you should join.”

Rey hesitates for a few seconds, trying to figure out what she really wants to say. “I would like to join, yeah,” she admits. “But it clashes with GSA.” Trying deliberately to wind him up, she then adds, “ _And_ you’re a pain in the ass.”

“My uncle Luke takes the electronics club now,” he says, only addressing her comment with a slight eye roll. “He would come up with a solution. He’s been teaching business and administration at the school for a few years.”

“I’ll think about it,” Rey smiles.

“Or not,” Ben adds hurriedly. “Just a suggestion.”

“Nah, it would be cool.” For the first time in her life, she smiles at him shyly (she must be on some sort of hallucinogenic because since when has she ever been shy?). Almost as an afterthought, she says, “Thanks.”

He shrugs casually, and Rey notices that he’s looking off to one side, carefully not meeting her gaze. _He’s kind of pretty,_ she thinks, _in a weird, unconventional way._ And she has to admit, from her front row window view, she’s _very_ aware that he’s got a banging bod.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Ben says, clearing his throat awkwardly.

Turning around on the spot, he marches up his driveway and to his porch without a backwards glance. Rey watches bewilderedly as he unlocks his front door and lets himself in. Even after he shuts the door behind him, her feet still stay rooted in the same spot.  

She just can’t figure him out.

 

***

 

“I thought you hated Ben Solo?” Maz calls from the kitchen as soon as Rey steps through the front door.

She pauses, house keys clutched tightly in her hand. Taking a deep breath (and prolonging twenty questions for a few seconds) she turns around and locks the door behind her. Walking into the kitchen with her shoulders hunched, she quietly says, “I do.”  

“Sure as hell didn’t look like it,” Maz mutters, but she’s grinning when she spins around to face Rey.

“He’s weird,” Rey says. “I’m going to bed.”

Maz closes the distance between them and gives her a kiss on the forehead. “Goodnight, child.”

 

***

 

Rey joins electronics the next day.

“So I can alternate every week?” she asks Mr. Skywalker, who – by the way – is the coolest teacher she’s ever met. “GSA one week and electronics the next?”

She really wishes she had taken accountancy now, instead of freaking chemistry with Mr. Threepio. Truthfully, she always knew Mr. Skywalker was a teacher in the school, but she’s never taken any of his subjects. She’s never been interested in business or IT. Now, she really wishes she had been.

“It’s cool with me,” Mr. Skywalker says, shrugging his shoulders. “Especially for the girl who’s been sneaking into my nephew’s bedroom.”

From the other side of the electronics class, Ben spits out his water.

“Um.” Rey stares at Luke with a face of abject horror. “Shit.”

Luke laughs, which becomes even louder when Ben marches over to them.

“What is this?” Ben asks, gesturing between them both. “What did you say?”

Rey crosses her arms over her chest defensively. She never thought she’d be having one of these conversations with her teacher, but hey ho, life comes at you fast. “He _said_ ,” Rey begins, “that I snuck into your house.”

“Yes,” Luke agrees, rubbing his hand through his graying beard. Which makes him look very sophisticated, if Rey does say so herself. “That’s exactly what I said,” he continues.

“She forgot her house keys,” Ben blurts nervously. “It wasn’t anything like _that_.”

Luke nods his head incredulously. “I’m sure it wasn’t.”

“It _wasn’t_.” Ben looks absolutely mortified, which is hilarious to Rey. “She climbed over the tree.”

“Mhm,” Luke murmurs. He looks like he’s enjoying this way more than he should.

“Well,” Rey grins. “This conversation has been terrible.” She turns her head towards Mr. Skywalker. “But I’ll see you next week in electronics?”

“Agreed,” he answers with a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

Like she said before, Mr. Skywalker is awesome.

Too bad Ben didn’t turn out the same way.


	9. Chapter 9

They have their first soccer game against a rival team on Friday night. Rey’s nerves are thrumming with anticipation as she waits in the locker room, red soccer kit stretched tightly over her chest as she struggles to keep calm.

“What’s got your panties in a bunch?” Poe asks, collapsing down on the bench beside her. He must sense her anxiety, because he looks at her curiously, with one eyebrow raised high. “The Galactic Empire are a shit team, there’s no way we’re not going to win.”

“I know,” Rey says, putting her head between her legs for a few seconds so she can try to breathe properly. “I don’t know what’s up. I’ve never been like this before a game.”

“C’mon, Rey,” Finn says. He puts a soothing arm around her shoulders, and Poe rubs her knee gently from the other side. “Save your energy for the First Order. _Then_ you can be scared.”

Phasma jogs over to the bench. “The First Order?” she repeats, mouth thinning. “Shit. That’s Ben’s old school’s soccer team.”

Rey’s head snaps up to face the blond-haired girl. “We’re going up against them at the end of the year. They’ve always been our biggest competition.”

“Ben is not going to be happy,” Phasma laughs. “They’re all scumbags.”

“We know,” Finn mutters.

Poe grins. “Rey punched one of them in the face once during the game. Nearly got herself suspended.”

“This guy called Snoke _literally_ grabbed my jersey and threw me across the pitch!” Rey exclaims. “He’s a senior this year, so he’ll probably be bigger and badder than ever.”

Phasma winces. “That’s the guy Ben’s had a few run ins with.”

“Shit.” Poe stands up, cracking his back and neck. “Well, I’m glad Ben’s not a soccer fan. He can just stay away from the school until they leave.”

“Ben’s outside right now,” Phasma says.

Rey’s mouth falls open. “What.”

The blond-girl nods her head. “Yeah. He’s on the bleachers.”

“He came to the game?” Rey gapes.

“Yup,” Phasma says. “He says he came to see me, but we all know who he’s really here for.”

The whole group explodes into animated laughter, but Rey doesn’t get the joke. She frowns, feeling a little left out and confused. Recently, her and her friends seem to be on different pages. Since Phasma has come along, it’s like they’re sharing an inside joke that Rey’s just not part of.

She’s about to ask them what they mean, but before she can, Jyn Erso – their goalkeeper – runs into the locker room to tell them that the game is about to start.

She’ll just need to ask another day. For now, it’s time to win.

 

***

 

Despite Rey’s nerves, the Resistance absolutely smash the Galactic Empire.

Throughout the game, Rey couldn’t help but shoot Ben little glances from across the pitch. Which, in hindsight, probably threw her off a bit; but oh well, they still demolished the other team.

She’s just confused as to why he’s here. He hates soccer.

Along with Phasma, Finn and Poe, Rey jogs over to the bleachers where all her friends are sitting. Paige is waving a sign that says **‘Phasma #1’** in big sparkly letters. Hux and Rose are hoarding multiple bags of cookies and cupcakes, still stuffing their faces even after the game has finished. Rey jumps onto the small railing that separates the pitch and the bleachers and snaffles a cupcake for herself before Hux has the chance to pull the box away. With her hair plastered to her face, she unwraps the cupcake and shoves the whole thing into her mouth. Finn snorts from beside her.

“Congrats,” Rose grins, offering a piece of cookie to Phasma. “You guys were amazing.”

“You were passable,” Hux agrees. Which is a massive compliment, coming from him.

“I’ll take it,” Rey says. She turns her attention to Ben, who’s sulking at the end of the bleachers. Maybe he’s pissed that Hux and Rose are starting to get along like a house on fire. If Phasma has Paige, and Hux has Rose, who does Ben have? “And what did you think, Solo?”

Ben looks her square in the eye, and for a second, the intensity of his gaze makes her breath catch in her throat. Shit. She’s in trouble.

“Ben thoroughly enjoyed it,” Hux says, grinning smarmily. “Thanks to a special someone.”

The group – again, what the fuck – burst into lurid laughter. Finn’s laughing so hard his water spurts out of his nose. Poe is slapping his thigh with his hand. Phasma is watching them with a wicked smile on her face, arms crossed over her chest.

Rey really doesn’t think Hux’s comment was that funny. Ben didn’t look like he enjoyed the game _at all_ – he was sitting there sullenly the entire time. And she knows soccer isn’t his thing. Hux clearly doesn’t know his best friend very well. She looks towards Ben, who’s rolling his eyes with an annoyed expression on his face.

Yeah, he definitely doesn’t like soccer.

Poe turns his attention to the group sitting on the bleachers. Most of the fans have left, and only a few stragglers are still here. “Thanks for coming to see us play.”

“No problemo,” Rose grins. She gives him a little mock salute. “Anyone up for pizza?”

The whole group nods their head in agreement. Even Ben.

 

***

 

The next day after school, Rey goes to the library to study. Just because Ben is now a member of their group, doesn’t mean she’s going to drop all notions of wanting to become valedictorian. She still doesn’t even like him – she owes him no mercy.

And, truth be told, she’s still a competitive little shit.

She walks through the double doors with a stack of books in her arms, ready to sit at her favorite spot at the back of the quiet library, when she realizes that her biggest competition is already here. Ben is sitting a few tables down from her table, with multiple books opened up around him – he appears to be studying hard, and he hasn’t noticed her yet.

She stops in her tracks. Would it be awkward if she walked past him and didn’t say hi? Would it be awkward if she _did_ say hi?

He’s not sitting at her favorite table. She could say hello and then go off and study alone, like she originally planned.

Or, she could mess with him and sit right beside him. That would definitely throw him off. 

Grinning, she marches up to him. “Hello stranger,” she whispers when she’s directly behind him.

He jumps so hard he nearly headbutts her in the chin. “What the fuck?” he hisses, spinning around to face her. His eyes are super cute up this close. “Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”

The librarian clears her throat from behind her desk, looking at them pointedly.

Rey mouths _‘sorry’_ , wincing slightly as she rounds the table and slides into the seat across from Ben.

He watches her as she unpacks her books, bringing out the pink sparkly pen that Finn gave to her as a joke. “You’re not seriously sitting here?” Ben asks quietly, looking at her with a frown on his face.

“I sure am.” Rey gives him a shit-eating grin, which she knows will piss him off.

“Why?”

“Because I want to annoy you,” she says. “And you’re running against me for valedictorian. I need to know how much you’re studying so I can do the same.”

“You’re insufferable.”

“I know.” Rey opens her AP chem textbook to the most recent module. “The universe is clearly throwing us together. We should take heed and study together.”

“You’re not studying with me,” he says, with a determined glint in his eye.

Rey huffs out a small breath. “Who’s going to stop me? You?”

Ben rolls his eyes. She can tell that he’s admitted defeat by the way his shoulders slump, losing the tightness they had held when she first came over.

Well, she’s definitely won this round.

They co-exist silently, and Rey does a few questions for her AP chemistry homework before she becomes completely uninterested. She taps her pen rhythmically against the table, watching the clock hands tick by.

“What are you doing?” Rey asks Ben once she’s officially overcome with boredom. All she can hear is his pencil scratching quickly over the paper. He doesn’t acknowledge her. “Hellooooo?” she stage-whispers when he still hasn’t responded. “Is there anyone in up there?”

“Rey,” Ben grits out. “Stop being so annoying.”

“Study with me,” Rey says.

“Not going to happen.”

“Please.”

_“No.”_

She gives him the puppy dog eyes. “Please.”

He stares at her for a second and then caves. Groaning, he huffs out an unenthusiastic, _“Fine.”_

Grinning triumphantly, she moves her books over to the other side of the table and then slides herself round into the chair beside him. Truthfully, she doesn’t know why she wants to study with Ben. Maybe she just wants to annoy him. Maybe she wants to make him lose concentration so she can become valedictorian. Her head is all over the place. She doesn’t know.

She brushes all strange thoughts aside.

“Do you want to do chemistry first?” Rey asks. “That’s the hardest. And we have homework.”

He sighs. “Sure.”

 

***

 

After an hour has passed, Rey has to begrudgingly admit that Ben is pretty damn smart. He’s not as smart as she is, but he’s definitely up there. Maybe, just maybe, she’ll have some decent competition after all. Sure, she’s been studying every single night, but Ben studies all day around the clock. He’s definitely a lot more dedicated than she is.

Maybe he deserves to be valedictorian? Can she just let him take the title from her?

She ponders it for a moment, watching Ben with her chin resting on her hands.

_Nah. That title is mine._

“How are you getting on with question eleven?” Ben asks when he catches her staring at him for too long.

She breaks out of her trance in a daze. “Um, it’s going good.”

He raises one speculative eyebrow. “Good? It’s the hardest question on the sheet.”

Looking down at her homework, she realizes that she’s not even tried to attempt question eleven yet. Frankly, she’s been too preoccupied with Ben’s stupid face. If she keeps letting him distract her, she’ll never be able to beat his ass to become valedictorian.

“Rey?”

She realizes he’s been calling her name. Whoops. She’s done it again. “Yeah?”

“Are you feeling okay?” he asks. But he doesn’t sound concerned in the slightest. Why would he be? He doesn’t even like her. “You look a little weird.”

“Weird? Who? Me?” Rey blurts. “I’m not weird.”

“Right.”

“You’re weird,” she accuses.

Ben rolls his eyes and picks his pencil back up. Before he starts writing again, he says, “Yeah, _I’m_ the weird one.”

As she watches him continue with his homework, she comes to a startling realization that Ben is like _extremely_ attractive. Not just _‘unconventionally attractive’,_ like she had thought a couple of days ago. No. Like, _attractive_ attractive.

She nearly drops her pencil with shock.

They’ve been enemies for months, and _now_ she figures out that he’s hot? Now? At the worst possible time? Great. Just great.

 _Oh well,_ she thinks, shrugging it off. It definitely won’t have an impact on their already rocky relationship, since his personality is terrible. Who would ever want to date Ben Solo? Not her, anyway. As Hermione Granger once said, Ben has the _“emotional range of a teaspoon.”_

She never really quite understood that phrase until she met Ben.

Now she understands way too much.

“You’re staring,” Ben says. “Again.”

“Sorry.” She’s not sorry.

A few minutes pass.

“You’re _still_ staring,” he says nonchalantly, eyes still glued to his homework. Although, there’s no real heat behind his words. In fact, the corners of his mouth are pulled up slightly – he’s way more amused than he’s letting on. He finally raises his head to meet her gaze. “Can you cut it out?”

She pretends to mull it over for a second. “Nah.”

“Why not?” he asks, but he’s smiling even bigger now.

“You can’t tell me what to do.”

The comment makes a startled laugh burst out of Ben, and he clamps his hand over his mouth to silence it. But it’s too late. The librarian swings her head around to face them, furious expression on her face.

“Crap,” Rey swears. “We’re toast.”

She starts fumbling for her things, shoving them into her bag unceremoniously. Ben catches on quickly and begins to do the same. But he’s being a lot slower than her, closing his books and delicately placing them into his bag.

Ben’s gaze snaps up and he looks past her, eyes going wide. “She’s storming over!” he hisses. “Shit!”

Rey bundles up her homework sheets into a ball, not caring about the state she’ll have to hand them into Mr. Threepio tomorrow, and jumps up out her seat. She nearly knocks it down in the process, but grabs onto the back for dear life so she doesn’t make an even bigger disruption than she already has.

“It’s every man for themselves!” she exclaims, throwing her pen at Ben (which hits him square in the forehead) and sprinting for the exit before the old, crabbit librarian can get to her.

She doesn’t even feel bad for leaving Ben behind. It’s his fault. He should have been quicker.

Bursting out of the exit with her bag slung over her shoulder, she hears Ben running behind her giggling manically. They dash around the side of the building, just in time for Miss. Binks to lean out of the door and call, _“I’ll be contacting the principle about this, young lady!”_

Which is definitely the wrong thing to say, because as soon as Rey and Ben stop, they’re bursting into a fresh wave of hysterics. Rey literally has stitches she’s laughing that much. She leans her forehead against the cool brick wall, trying to cool down her overheating body temperature. But she can’t stop laughing. The look on the librarian’s face was too funny to ignore.

Ben looks to be in the same state. He’s clutching his side, face red from laughter. She’s never heard him laugh this much – never mind the giggle he had just let out moments before. It’s strangely endearing.

 After the hilarity has died down, they catch their breath leaning against the school wall.

“Sorry I fed you to the sharks there,” Rey smirks, breath hitching in her throat. Even during soccer practices, she doesn’t think she’s ever ran that fast. “You were packing up too slow.”

“I would have done the same to you.”

They share a look, before both of their faces explode into identical grins.

“I’ve been forcibly removed from the library with Poe a few times for causing a scene,” she admits. “Miss. Binks said that if it happens one more time, she’s going to get me suspended. That’s why I had to make a break for it.”

“Shit.” Ben snorts loudly. “I didn’t think the library business was this serious.”

Rey stares up at him, noticing for the first time how tall he really is. _Man, he could crush me,_ she thinks. “Well, it is,” she blurts, trying to avoid her inner monologue. “If I had known you were going to cause me this much trouble, I wouldn’t have sat beside you.” She grins mischievously. “Who knew Ben Solo would get us kicked out of the library?”

He leans against the wall, looking down at her with an expression she really can’t decipher right now. “I think you must be a bad influence on me.”

Rey pretends to look shocked. “Me? A bad influence? On you? I don’t think so, Solo.”

“Maybe we’re both bad for each other,” he says, voice a low murmur.

She doesn’t know if she’s imagining it, but his face seems to be _a lot_ closer than it was before. She feels her heart slam in her chest. “Maybe,” she whispers, gaze caught on his lips.

They both seem to be leaning into each other’s space when the shrill sound of Ben’s cell phone knocks them both out of their trance.

He fumbles for it in his pocket, bringing it out and looking down at it with a dejected sigh. “It’s my dad,” he says. “He’s here to pick me up.”

She can breathe easy again now that the spell seems to have fizzled out. “Cool,” she says, clearing her throat.

He looks at her, licking his lips and she has to forcibly _will_ her eyes to not follow the motion.

“Want a lift?” he asks, hoisting his bag up over his shoulders.

She doesn’t know what else to say, so she says, “Sure.”


	10. Chapter 10

After Han drops her off at her house – an interesting journey, to say the least – Rey climbs up the stairs to her bedroom, determined to get an early night. She doesn’t want to think about is the way Ben looked at her in the alleyway, or the way she had felt herself leaning in towards him.

Did she want him to kiss her? No, she doesn’t think so.

 _A moment of weakness_ , she reasons. _Just one moment, and then it was over._

Which really, is nothing to worry about.

Is it?

She shakes her head. _Definitely not._

After she changes into her pajamas, she expects to climb into bed and be done with life for the day. What she doesn’t expect, however, is to glance out of her window and spot Ben Solo’s naked, _glistening_ torso. He’s working out on his pull up bar again, and he doesn’t seem to have noticed her blatant staring. Not that she _is_ staring. No. She’s just intrigued as to how one seventeen-year-old boy can do _that_ many pull ups. As she’s gawking at his shredded body (she can’t believe his levels of hotness, they definitely transcend any other teenager), she thinks she sees a small smile stretch over his face.

Jesus Christ.

He knows exactly what he’s doing, doesn’t he?

He’s probably doing it on purpose, the bloody bastard.

Rey storms away from the window, and before she hits the hay she grabs a piece of blank paper and a pen out of her bedside cabinet. She writes the word _‘Asshole’_ on the paper in big, blocky letters, and then colors it in with a pink felt-tip pen. When she’s sure Ben isn’t watching, she unceremoniously sticks it to her window with scotch tape so that the message is well and truly received when he looks over.

That’ll show him.

 

***

 

In the morning – after Rey has gotten dressed and brushed her teeth – she opens her curtains, ready to start the day. But before she leaves to get a lift from Poe, something on Ben’s window makes her stop short. There’s a piece of paper taped to his window.

She squints her eyes to make out the word in the distance.

 _‘Loser,’_ is all it says.

She grins the whole way to school.

 

                                                                                                ***                    

 

“How are you and your boyfriend?” Poe asks Rey playfully during homeroom. He’s got a chicken sandwich in his hand, and Rey has to stop herself from rolling her eyes. She keeps telling him to save his lunch for _lunch_ , not for 9am.

Finn snorts loudly. “Are you both going steady now?”

“Ben is not my boyfriend.”

“Funny how you assume we’re talking about Ben,” Finn says, resting his head on his clasped hands like the cat who got the canary.

She glares. “Not cool. I don’t like Ben.”

“Lie.” Rose doesn’t even look up from her cliché rom-com book when she delivers the line.

Rey gives her a dirty look, but ignores the comment. As the teacher goes through their names, Paige barrels into the room and pulls out a chair just in time for her name to be called during registration. She’s out of breath, visibly looking flustered, which is so unlike her that Rey has to give her a second glance. Usually Paige is made up like a prom queen. In fact, Rey thinks there’s no way in hell that her friend _won’t_ be crowned prom queen.

Paige leans in closely to Rey’s table, gripping the edge tightly in her hands to stop herself from face planting the floor. “Halloween,” is all she says. But she’s still gasping for breath, so it comes out like _“Haween.”_

Finn gawks at her. “What?”

“Halloween,” Paige wheezes, voice clearer this time. “The basketball team just cornered me in the corridor, demanding to know why I haven’t put enough funds aside for a Halloween dance.”

“Halloween is next week!” Poe frowns. “How on earth would we plan one with that little time? If they wanted a Halloween dance they should have asked for one at the beginning of the year.”

“I _know_.” Paige, once the pinnacle of calmness and grace, spits the word out like she’s one step away from falling through the ground and straight onto hell’s throne. Her eyes are wild, and Rey doesn’t think she’s ever seen her friend look this disheveled.

Rey pats her on the back. “It’s okay, we’ll figure something out.”

“They are _not_ getting a dance,” Paige seethes. “We don’t have the money or the time.”

Her friends mull the news over in silence for a few seconds before Poe perks up in his seat. “I have an idea,” he says. “I could have a party?”

Scoffing, Rose drums her fingers against the table and says, “Your family will never let you throw a Halloween party.”

“They’re not going to be in town,” Poe responds quickly. “They’re at some fancy conference for the weekend.”

“And this way, Rey can make a move on Ben!” Finn grins.

She groans loudly, dropping her head onto her desk. She’s getting real sick and tired of her friends making these accusations all the time. So what if she thinks Ben is hot? That doesn’t mean that she likes him. She can appreciate his beauty without falling for his charm. Not that he has any charm to begin with, anyway. “I don’t know why you all think I’m in love with him or something.”

“Oh come _on_ , Rey,” Poe says, although he looks pretty scandalized. “Have you seen him? His body? He’s got that dark, mysterious, broody thing going on.”

“Careful.” Finn shoots his boyfriend a warning glare. “Any more compliments and you’ll make me jealous.”

Poe grins good naturedly for a second, before his face morphs into something that Rey doesn’t like. An expression which Rey knows from experience means that he’s got some sort of stupid plan up his sleeve.

“I have a plan,” Poe says excitedly, confirming her worst fears. “We make Ben jealous at the Halloween party. Then he’ll definitely want to make a move.”

Paige gasps. “It’s the perfect plan.”

“He might even try and kiss her there and then!” Rose exclaims. They’re taking like Rey isn’t _even sitting right beside them._ Jesus Christ.

Looking around at her friends’ expressions, Rey’s brows turn down into a scowl. “No,” she says, but the enthusiastic looks don’t fall from her friends faces. _“No,”_ she repeats, firmer this time.

“Rey,” Poe begins, voice serious. He’s twisted around in his seat to face her, which can’t really be comfortable given the awkward angle. “You like him, he likes you. _Something_ has to happen.”

“I _don’t_ like him,” Rey says, exasperated. “You’re reading into things.”

“And how did you get home last night?” Rose asks, piping up for the first time in the whole conversation. Her eyes have a mischievous glint to them, making Rey shift nervously in her chair. “I saw you in the library. I was going to ask if you wanted a lift, but I saw you running out.” She pauses for dramatic effect, because that’s just how her friends like to tell stories, and Rey has to physically stop herself from groaning out loud. She knows exactly where this story is headed. “You were with Ben, giggling like two school girls.”

“So?”

“So,” Rose drawls. “How did you get home?”

Rey wrings her hands together. “Ben’s dad gave me a lift.”

The gang turn to face one another, looking positively gleeful. She really hates her friends. They’re all truly terrible people. She’s never going to live this one down.

“You can’t deny it.” Finn drags his hand across the back of Rey’s neck in a comforting gesture. “Just admit it.”

“I don’t like Ben, okay?” Rey snaps, just as the bell rings for first period. She stands up and grips one of her textbooks tightly. “So you have nothing to worry about. Just drop it.”

 

***

 

The problem, Rey realizes that day during lunch, is that she _does_ in fact like Ben. And when exactly that happened, she really doesn’t know. But the moment she catches sight of him in the lunchroom heading for their table, her heart does a funny flip inside her chest.

It doesn’t even make any sense. Ben is all long limbs and awkwardness, but there’s just something about him. His eyes, or maybe his lips, or maybe the way he banters and argues back and forth with her about anything and everything. Or, maybe it’s that he’s provided her with her first real competition for the first time in her life – his intelligence makes him a worthy rival – and she admits that she definitely likes a man who can keep up with her.

But, he’s still the complete opposite from her. Jokingly, Finn used to call her a ray of light – she can’t imagine anyone saying anything like that about Ben. Glancing at him out of the corner of her eye, she observes him in his _un_ natural habitat. It’s clear that he’s still a little uncomfortable at the table, despite Hux and Phasma’s easy going presences. He’s coming out of his shell slowly but surely, though. Yet, it definitely doesn’t stop him from glaring down at his lunch, face lost in thought. Or maybe that’s just his face.

Even if he _was_ a little friendlier to everyone, she really doesn’t think having a crush on a guy who wears all black, with black hair and a black soul is a good idea.

 _Opposites do attract, though_ , Rey muses.

As she continues to watch Ben at the table, Phasma says something that makes him laugh for the first time during the lunch period. He throws his head back, exposing his pale neck, and Rey wishes she could make him do that. For a moment, she’s jealous of Phasma. Which is completely ridiculous, since Phasma is dating Paige – one of her best friends. With dawning horror, she realizes that she’s not _jealous_ of Phasma. No. She just wants to be the one who can make Ben laugh like that.

Crap. This is really bad.

It doesn’t feel like your run-of-the-mill school girl crush.

She is well and truly fucked. 

Not only is Ben her first ever _real_ crush, but he also hates her. She’s still indiscreetly gazing at Ben when he looks up from his lunch and catches her eye. She tries to smile in response – although, it probably seems more like a grimace – but all he does is scowl and look away.

Great.

She really knows how to pick ‘em.

 

***

 

She corners Poe outside their English lit classroom. He is the sneakiest person in the group, after all.

“I need your help,” is all she says when she finally gets him alone.

He gives her a knowing look. “Boy problems?”

“Yes.”

“Well, you’ve come to the right place.” He gives her a slow smirk, and for a minute, Rey really regrets her decision.

It’s just like that time in fourth grade when Rey told Poe that she was crushing hard on Lando Calrissian. Despite it being a trivial, one-week crush (although not to Rey at the time), Poe decided to take the liberty of trying to set them both up. It really didn’t go to plan, despite Poe’s best attempts at playing match maker, and Lando still looks at her a little strangely during soccer practice. She doesn’t think she’ll ever live that one down. Thank god he broke his leg and she doesn’t need to share the same space as him anymore.

“I don’t know, Poe. Remember last time?”

He scoffs loudly, looking offended. “I have grown and matured since then.”

She gives him a speculative look. “Oh, _I’m sure_.” She can’t hide the sarcasm present in her voice. Honestly, she doesn’t even try. “But this time, I would like Ben to actually like me, not run away every time he sees me coming down the corridor.”

“I, Poe Dameron, promise that I will not fuck up Rey and Ben’s love life,” he says, hand pressed flatly against his chest like he’s swearing an oath in court. Although, she definitely doesn’t think swearing at the judge and jury would help his case. “I will do everything in my power to make sure the transaction from friendship to lovers is as smooth a ride as possible.”

“We’re not even friends right now,” Rey mutters. “He hates me.”

Poe laughs loudly, but then stops abruptly when he sees that she’s being serious. “Oh my god, this is too good,” he says. “You’re blind, girl.”

“I don’t think so.”

“He’s already head over heels in love with you,” Poe says, leaning against the lockers suavely. A couple of people walk past to get into their English class, giving them both strange looks as they pass. They’re going to be _so_ late to class if Poe doesn’t speed things up a little. Not that she minds missing English anyway – its her worst class. “I can’t believe you don’t see it.”

“I don’t.”

Her best friend sighs and gives her an unimpressed look. “We need to get to class, but I’ll think up a plan and get back to you,” he says. “I don’t think he’ll make the first move so we need to give him some gentle persuasion.”

“Okay,” Rey breaths. “Okay. I trust you.”

Poe gives her a roguish grin in response, which makes Rey think that maybe she really has made a monumental mistake.

Oh well. Too late now.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLS LOOK AT THE END NOTES TO SEE AN IMPORTANT QUESTION

By the time Friday rolls around, Rey has spent at least three days trying to talk Poe out of the party. It’s not that she doesn’t like Halloween (really! Halloween is her favorite holiday, having been unable to celebrate it for the first six years of her life). It’s just that with Poe’s parents out of town, there’s no knowing what could happen. Rey’s been to multiple parties that have gone south quickly.

She has to repress a shudder when she remembers Owen Lars’ last party. Someone had thrown up in the fireplace. Someone else had stolen his microwave (she thinks it was probably Boba Fett – he looked pretty shifty that night). His parents had come home from their holiday a day early to surprise him, and found a bunch of teenagers wrecking their house. She thinks he’s still grounded for that little escapade.

So, she’s really not looking forward to the inevitable fall out, especially when Poe’s parents are in high positions in the government. To put it plainly: they’re really strict.

“What are you even supposed to be?” Rey asks, eyeing Poe’s ridiculously drawn on mustache.

“A gangster,” Poe says. “A sexy gangster.”

“Dude.” Rey shakes her head exasperatedly. “Your mustache is already sweating off.”

“What? No! Are you serious?” Poe demands, touching his face lightly. “I’ll be back.”

Despite her mocking of Poe, Rey’s costume isn’t actually much better. She’s not got any weird face makeup on like he has, but she is sporting a pretty tight white dress. There are angel wings strapped to her back, and she has a homemade halo attached to her headband. Not that her skin-tight dress makes her look very angel-like, though.

Finn had called it _“pretty slutty, for a jock.”_

She supposes her friends have never seen her dressed up in revealing clothing before. In past Halloweens, they had all dressed up in goofy group costumes. One time they went as the power rangers, and then they were heroes versus villains, and after that came Scooby-Doo and the mystery Inc (Rey was Scooby). She had never really taken herself seriously, always content to wear the most ridiculous and outlandish costumes.

But Poe had told her this year was going to be different. All part of his _‘master plan,’_ according to him. Truthfully, Rey doesn’t really buy it.

She yanks down her dress uneasily, unable to ignore the thought of her bending down and exposing her ass to the world. Yes, it really is _that_ short. Poe had helped her pick a costume out (well, told her exactly what she was wearing, more like it), and then reported back to Phasma. Which was a crucial part of the plan, apparently.

She knows she looks good tonight. Paige had done her makeup, Finn had done her hair, and Poe had chosen the shortest dress in the shop. Rose had even custom made her wings and halo from the art department store cupboard’s inventory.

And yet, she still can’t swallow the nerves bubbling dangerously in her chest. The last party she had attended, Ben had ended up walking her drunk ass home. She doesn’t want to embarrass herself like that again – especially since he had climbed through her bedroom window. She thinks she would probably die if, in light of her newfound feelings, Ben Solo made another appearance in her room.

She really wouldn’t be able to handle it. She might even jump him on sight.

Which would be terrible, considering there’s a pretty big obstacle in her path: he still hates her.

Nevertheless, Poe had assured her that part of tonight’s plan would guarantee that Ben starts seeing her as girlfriend material, and not someone that he would beat up with his math textbook. She had felt uneasy at first; she doesn’t want to be one of those girls that try and change themselves for a boy, but Poe had told her that it was one party (that she would have attended anyway), and also that she isn’t _changing_ herself, per se. She’s just throwing on an extremely tight outfit in the hopes that the guy she’s crushing on sees her, drops all his other responsibilities, and throws her up against a wall to make out.

Simple, really.

And anyway, if Ben is going to fall head over heels in love with her, she knows that all she needs to do is be herself. Because she’s pretty great. And if a boy doesn’t want her for who she is, then that’s his loss, isn’t it?

But she really does feel like Ben is a good person under all that snark and quick wit.

Okay, maybe it’s deep, _deep_ down, but it’s still there. She sees it in him – that glimmer of light behind his eyes that comes out when he’s bantering back and forth with her. It’s in his actions, not in his words. Like when he walked her home after she fell out with her friends, and the way he let her study with him, even though he definitely knew she would distract him.

Like she said, there’s just _something_ about him. Even though she does admit that he’s still a complete asshole.

Before she can dwell on it any longer and bum herself out, she grabs a red solo cup and braces herself for a long night.

 

***

 

An hour later, the party is in full swing. It’s loud and crowded and the entire place reeks of beer. It’s pretty much every high school stereotype Rey has ever seen rolled into a seething mass of horny eighteen-year olds, drunkenly dry-humping in every possible corner. Poe is going to be _so_ dead when his parents come home.

Captain America and Spider-Man are making out on the stairs. Princess Bubblegum from _Adventure Time_ is hanging with Jack Sparrow on the couch – they’re as high as kites and debating philosophical questions of the world. Finn, who’s dressed up as a slutty nurse, is doing a keg stand in the kitchen with Rose, who’s wearing an orange jumpsuit and handcuffs around her wrists.

Which is _definitely_ not safe.

So far, there’s been no sign on Ben. Or Phasma and Hux. _They must be running late_ , Rey thinks mildly. But she’s not going to let that stop her from having a good night.

She makes her way to the makeshift bar in the kitchen, grinning when she sees Paige and Rose doing a shot competition.

“Can I get in on the action?” Rey asks, prompting Finn to thrust a shot glass into her hands and pour her a tequila. He lines up one for himself, grabbing a few limes from the fridge. Finn has been her shot partner for a long time now – he knows exactly what he’s doing. “Thanks.”

She knocks it back. The shot burns on the way down, so she quickly digs her teeth into the small lime piece, trying to get rid of the taste of _death_ from her mouth.

“Damn,” Finn grimaces. “That doesn’t get any easier.”

“Nope,” Rey says, wiping her mouth with the back of her hands. She gives him a suggestive look, wiggling her eyebrows. “Another?”

His eyes sparkle. “Absolutely.”

 

***

 

When Ben, Phasma and Hux appear, Rey is well on her way to pretty freaking drunk. It’s a life choice that she feels decidedly awesome about.

She’s stumbling into the living room when she spots them. They’ve all got drinks in hand (although she doesn’t know how they got them since she’s been residing in the kitchen the whole time). They’re chatting happily with a couple of guys from the soccer team, but Ben looks sulky as usual. When Paige sees Phasma, who’s dressed up as a pretty awesome gladiator, she vaults herself over Poe’s couch and jumps straight onto her back.

Rey doesn’t know if it’s the alcohol or the gross PDA that makes her want to throw up. Maybe it’s the sight of her neighbor-slash-crush skulking about.

“Have you just come in your own clothes?” Rey asks Ben when she approaches the group, heart hammering in her chest. She tries to avoid eye contact with him, because she doesn’t want to start blushing like an idiot.

“No,” he grunts. “I’m a demon.”

She raises a speculative eyebrow, his usual grumpiness enabling her to actually talk to him like a normal human being. “You’re wearing jeans and a t-shirt,” she says, looking him up and down. “I’m pretty sure I saw you wearing that get up at school a couple of days ago.”

“Fine,” he sighs. “But you brought this on yourself.” He reaches into his back pocket and pulls out a red, sparkling headband. It’s got two devils horns sticking out of the top.

Rey gasps. “Oh my god, you are not wearing that.”

He places it on his head in such a way that doesn’t mess up his perfectly styled hair. “I am and it’s all your fault.”

Damn it. He looks adorable.

She laughs loudly at the horrified expression on his face. The party is crazy now – there’s people putting Poe’s mom’s bedroom to _very_ good use, and Rose has already thrown up on the lawn (and then gotten back up and done another two shots, the absolute trooper). But Rey really doesn’t care. She wants to talk to Ben.

“Hey! Our costumes coordinate,” she realizes, pointing at Ben’s ensemble.

And then she understands why.

Poe and Phasma have been scheming behind her back. She’s got to take her hat off to them – she didn’t even realize Poe had enlisted Phasma as an assistant.  

“So they do,” Ben murmurs, a lot closer than he was before. He looks at her, _really_ looks at her, and then licks his lips. Rey pretends that her eyes aren’t following every movement. “You look good. Really good.”

Her heart stops in her chest. “Uh.” She can’t think of anything to say. Not one single thing. Shit, she’s really bad at this. “Thank you.”

He shakes his head, and the trance is broken. He looks around at the party, clutching his red solo cup in his hand. “Want to get a drink?” he asks awkwardly, watching everything but her.

She raises her plastic cup up high, showing him that she’s already got one.

He laughs anxiously, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. “I don’t know why I’m so bad at this,” he says.

“Why don’t we go and play beer pong?” she proposes, taking pity on him. He really isn’t the type to hold a conversation, or even start one, so (being the more outgoing of them both) she decides to make things as easy as possible for him. “Poe has a pretty cool basement.”

“Sure.”

They make their way into the hall where the basement door is located, dodging past hordes of drunk people dancing and sweating. The house really is jam packed, and she dreads to think how much she’ll need to help Poe clean up tomorrow. Clomping down the stairs, she can feel Ben’s presence directly behind her and she shivers, basking in the closeness.

When they get to the bottom of the steps, she spots Poe and Finn immediately. Her friends are sitting on a love seat with Lando and Owen perched opposite on comfy bean bags. There’s a different playlist blasting from the speakers down here, a softer one which reverberates with the atmosphere.

She reckons this is the place people come to smoke weed, if the pungent smell is anything to go by.

Britney Spears is playing video games with a unicorn at one side of the room. At the other side, someone with a white sheet thrown over their head is dancing alone to the beat of the music.

Damn, this is the weird section of the party.

“C’mon,” she says, taking Ben’s hand and leading him in the direction of the designated beer pong table. From the couches, Poe shoots her a thumbs up. She winks in response.

The plan is going to plan.

“Shall we play?” he asks, running his finger over the rim of a cup. “Although, I don’t know how good I’ll be. How do you do it?”

“You throw the ball into one of my cups. If you get it in, I need to down the contents of the cup,” Rey advises. “It’s simple.”

Which may be a bit of an understatement, because it turns out that Ben is a pretty freaking good beer pong player.

With precision that she’s not seen before in anyone outside the basketball team, he successfully gets all of his ping-pong balls into her cups. She’s practically black-out drunk by the time they’re finished. She had only gotten a couple into his, but that’s because she’s a centre-back. She’s not used to shooting balls into a target; kicking a ball around on the soccer pitch is more her area.

“Shit, dude,” she slurs. “You’re good.”

He shrugs, a little drunkenly himself. “I can’t help the fact that I’m naturally amazing at life.”

She gives him a light punch on the arm. _“Show-off,”_ she tries to say, but ends up falling against him before she can get the last half of the word out.

He catches her easily and looks down at her with a smirk. “Can’t help but fall for me, I see.”

“Oh my god,” she says, pushing herself off him and into an upright position. “You are so lame. That was terrible.”

Laughing loudly, he leans back against the wall casually. “Well, I can’t be good at everything.”

“Just beer pong,” she grins. Feeling braver than usual (probably due to the copious amounts of alcohol she’s just consumed), she leans into his space, watching in wonder as his eyes widen. “You’re pretty funny,” she says. If he rejects her, she can just blame it on the alcohol tomorrow. “You’re not as much of a dick as I thought you were.”

“Thanks,” he says drily, but there’s a small smile twitching at the side of his mouth.

She reaches up unsteadily, trying to get her hands into his hair. _He has really nice hair_ , she thinks. _Reeeeal nice._ She wants to ruffle it. Or run her hands through it. She can’t reach because he’s too tall, so she ends up leaning against his chest. “Pretty,” she murmurs. “Very pretty.”

“You’re drunk,” he laughs. “Why do I always get the pleasure of looking after you when you’re drunk?”

She sways backwards, missing his warmth immediately. “You can’t complain,” she says. “You were the one who got me drunk this time.”

“Not my fault I’m good at beer pong,” he says, reaching out for her again. But before he makes contact, he draws his hand away like he’s been set on fire.

 _What?_ Has she got cooties or something?

Before she has the chance to voice her complaints, Kaydel springs between them. She looks beautiful in her _Red Riding Hood_ costume _._ Her hair cascades down her back in blonde waves, and for a moment, an ugly, jealous feeling drops into Rey’s stomach like a lead balloon.

“Hey,” Kaydel says, looking between them both suspiciously. “Nice costumes. Are you two together?”

“No, no.” Rey laughs nervously, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. She shuffles backwards slightly so Kaydel has more room. “We’re, uh, not together.”

A muscle twitches in Ben’s jaw. “Yeah,” he says. “We’re just friends.”

She feels like she’s been stabbed in the chest.

“Oh!” Kaydel exclaims, her face brightening. “That’s great. Well, it’s not great, but you know what I mean.” She turns around to face Ben, which puts her back to Rey. “Do you want to go outside or something?”

Rey’s going to throw up. “I guess I’ll just–” she jerks her thumb in the opposite direction “–go,” she finishes lamely.

Ben gives her an imploring look, but she turns on her heel and storms over to the other side of the room, breathing shallowly. Feeling miserable, she throws herself down onto the couch beside Poe muttering about _“stupid, beautiful, work colleagues out to steal her man.”_

Lando gives her an awkward look, which she ignores as usual.

_He really needs to get over the whole middle school crush thing, she thinks. It was like, ten years ago._

Poe throws an arm over her shoulder. “Are things not going to plan?”

“He’s off talking to Kaydel.” She spits out the other girls name childishly, which she instantly feels terrible about. She shouldn’t be pitting herself against Kaydel – it’s just not her style. Girls need to band together. If Ben does like Kaydel, she should be happy for them.

But she’s really _really_ not.

The group swivel their heads around to where Ben and her co-worker are standing, and Rey watches with fury as the blond-haired girl grabs his hand and drags him up the basement stairs. On the way out, Ben glances over his shoulder and meets her furious gaze. Looking puzzled (probably in response to her anger), he lets himself be pulled along with Kaydel. Her stomach churns. 

He doesn’t look back again.

“Shit,” Poe mutters. “Okay. Time to active phase two of the plan.”

“What’s this I’m hearing about a plan?” Lando asks.

“Rey is swooning over Ben Solo,” Poe says, and Rey smacks him on the chest for revealing her secrets to the soccer team. “We’re trying to get them together but Ben’s a little slow on the uptake.”

Lando raises his hand to his heart. “And here’s me thinking that I’m the love of your life,” he says with mock-offence.

She rolls her eyes. “You wish, Calrissian.”

“What are you going to do?” Owen asks, interrupting any argument that Lando can shoot back at her.

“Make him jealous, of course,” Poe grins. “The best way to any man’s heart.”

She sighs, leaning back into the couch as far as possible. She wishes one of Poe’s beanbags would swallow her whole.

Lando shrugs his shoulders, looking at her with wide, innocent eyes. “I could help out,” he suggests.

“You–” Poe points his finger in Lando’s chest “–would make things ten times worse. No.”

“Who then?” Rey asks. She frowns when no one gives her an answer. “This plan sucks.”

“I’ll do it,” Poe suggests. He takes a sip of his drink, but never takes his eyes off her.

Rey, Lando and Owen burst into simultaneous laughter. They’re laughing that loud that it can be heard over the music in the basement. Thank God Finn went upstairs five minutes ago, Rey thinks, or he’d be smacking Poe over the head and telling him to stop being an idiot.

“You can’t do it!” Rey splutters. “He knows you’re gay!”

“A small deterrent in my otherwise perfect plan.”

She gives him a flat look. “It can’t be you.”

“So, who then?” Lando asks.

Rey raises her eyebrows quizzically. “Who’s going to take one for the team?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY GUYS SO I'M PUTTING THIS TO A VOTE!!!!
> 
> WHO SHOULD BE THE PERSON TO MAKE BEN JEALOUS?   
> POE OR LANDO? 
> 
> I think Poe could be pretty funny tbh, and the fact that he's actually gay could be fun to explore (maybe Ben has no idea about Poe and Finn). But Lando is charming and a fun character too. I'm so conflicted about it, so I thought I'd leave the vote up to you amazing people.


	12. Chapter 12

“Just follow my lead.”

Heading up the basement stairs and into the carnage of the real party, Rey gives Lando what she hopes is a look of unadulterated irritation. “We are _not_ going with your plan,” she says, flailing her arms in the air. She probably looks ridiculous, but she’s too drunk and frustrated to care. She points her finger in Poe’s direction, who’s following behind them. “We’re not doing yours either.”

Poe balks. “But–”

“No,” she says, cutting him off. “The plan sucks. I don’t want to make him jealous.”

They can barely squeeze into the packed living room – there’s bodies grinding and dancing everywhere, and the music seems to be one big deafening _thud_. Feeling overwhelmed, they make their way into the kitchen and the dancer’s part around them as they snake through the narrow gaps in the bodies. Her angel wings hit against multiple people as she passes, but she can't find it in herself to care. Thankfully, the kitchen is less chaotic, and the music acts as background noise. A few people are milling around, getting snacks and drinks, but when the group enter they clear out. Lando closes the kitchen door behind them so they can talk in private without interruptions.

He’s still got a cast on his leg from his soccer-related injury, which makes his _Superman_ costume look stupid as hell.

As they stand awkwardly in the center of the kitchen, Rey catches Poe glancing into the living room with a worried expression on his face. He’s probably thinking about the ass-whooping he’s going to get from his parents when they come back home and he hasn’t cleaned up the house in time.

When he turns back around to face the group, Rey sends Poe the smarmiest grin she can manage – one that she knows will _really_ piss him off.  She told him that this was a bad idea, but the idiot didn’t listen. Serves him right.

Poe outright glares at her, but decides to ignore her comment. “Ben is never going to make a move if we don’t do something,” he says, exasperated.

“He might!” Rey argues. Not wanting to lose her buzz, she wanders over to the fridge and picks out one of the beers she had left in there at the start of the night. Surprisingly, no one has taken them (probably because she hid them underneath the vegetables – a smart move, if she does say so herself).

“He won’t.” The voice comes from behind her, and she spins around to see Phasma standing with Hux. Rey hadn’t heard them coming in – the blond-haired girl evidently has maximum stealth. She appears to be the soberest of the group, but even her gladiator costume is slightly askew, and she’s got Paige’s pink lipstick smothered on the side of her face.

Hux, adorned in his Star Trek costume (like the nerd he is), crosses his arms over his chest. “Ben will never fall for a plan like this,” he says. “It’s trivial.”

“You’re trivial,” Poe shoots back defensively. His eye twitches slightly.

She really hopes that Hux stops badmouthing the plan; Poe will probably have a stage three meltdown if he doesn't.

Scoffing, Hux opens his mouth to reply, but get’s cut off by Lando pressing his hand against his chest. “Why don’t we just chill?” Lando advises. He glances at Poe, and gives him a warning look. “The plan will work. I know men.”

“You don’t know Ben,” Hux mutters.

“Well, why don’t you enlighten us, oh wise one,” Lando says, smirking. He eyes Hux up and down appreciatively, which makes the red-headed boy’s cheeks color.

God, Lando flirts with anyone with a pulse.

“I don’t know,” Hux says uneasily. He turns his attention to Rey. “You want to make him jealous, but you don’t want him to think you’re taken.” He drums his fingers against the counter top, his face taking on a thoughtful gaze.

Phasma shakes her head. “Ben has no moral compass,” she says, which is definitely true. “If he thinks Rey is taken, he’ll probably try and sneak his way in.”

Rey has to continuously remind herself that, just because she realizes she has deeper feelings for Ben, doesn’t mean he’s turned into an angel. He’s still the grumpy asshole he’s always been, and she definitely knows that his ideals of the world are pretty skewed.

She just digs it now.

“You don’t think he would just back off?” Poe asks.

Laughing sarcastically, Phasma says, “Not a chance in hell.”

Rey frowns. “Um, guys?” she interrupts hesitantly. “This plan really only works is Ben _does_ like me. I don’t know about that.”

“I can help with that,” Lando says. He sounds confident, but Rey doesn’t quite know if she believes him yet. He gives her an almost pleading look, “if we do the plan my way.”

“My way is better,” Poe grumbles.

Hux shakes his head. “Ben definitely knows you’re gay,” he says. “We caught you and Finn making out at the side of the school the other day. You’re not exactly subtle.”

“But I want in on the plan,” Poe whines.

Her friend is a literal child.

Phasma gives him a mischievous look. “Oh, you’ll be in on the plan alright.”

Which doesn’t exactly leave Rey feeling fuzzy about the whole situation.

 

***

 

As soon as Phasma and Hux disappear to fulfill their mission of prying Kaydel away from Ben, Lando spins on them with a sharp look. He grabs hold of both Rey and Poe’s arms and drags them to a more secluded area of the kitchen, where no one will overhear them.

She has no idea what’s happening, but in her drunken state, she lets herself be hauled along.

“I’m not doing this for free,” he says, with a determined glint in his eyes.

 _Oh, here we go,_ Rey thinks, mentally rolling her eyes. She should have known his help would come at a price – it always does with guys like Lando. Rey gives him a suspicious look. “What do you want?”

Poe jumps up onto the island in the middle of the kitchen, swinging his legs back and forth with child-like vigor. “Christ, let’s just do my plan.” Pointing at Lando, who tries his best to look as innocent as possible, Poe says, “I’m not owing this guy anything. He’ll have us paying back the debt for the rest of our lives.”

“Hear me out!” Lando exclaims. “It’s a little favor.” He raises his forefinger and thumb up so that they’re barely touching. “Like, that small.”  

“Spit it out then,” Rey says, clutching her beer to her chest. She wants to be done with this conversation. She wants to go and dance the night away – with Ben or without. This is a party, after all.

“I want a date with that ginger nerd.”

Rey gapes.

She looks towards Poe, just to check that he’s hearing the same thing. He’s gaping too.

“Wait, what?” Rey says, shaking her head. “You want to date _Hux_?” Along with Poe and Lando, she looks out of the kitchen door to see Hux push a random girl dressed as _Cinderella_ out of his way, distaste written all over his face. Jerking her finger in his direction, she says, “ _That_ Hux?”

“What can I say?” Lando grins cockily. “I have a thing for nerds.”

“But he’s so pretentious!” Poe splutters. “And a complete prude. If you think he’s going to put out for you, you’re _so_ wrong.”

Lando presses his hand to his chest, looking affronted. “I’m hurt,” he says. “Truly. Can’t I like someone without everyone assuming I just want to get into their pants?”

Rey and Poe give each other a similar glance, before simultaneously saying, “No.”

“Okay, fine,” Lando concurs. “Help me get one date.” He pulls out the pleading, puppy dog eyes, which Rey finds really _really_ hard to say no to. “Just one.”

Poe groans. “What are we? Matchmakers?”

“As much as I want to help you,” Rey begins, sending Lando a sympathetic look, “Hux hasn’t dated anyone. Poe’s known him since kindergarten and he’s never been interested.”

“That’s cause he didn’t know _me_ ,” Lando says. He opens the fridge door and rifles through the vegetable drawer, snagging one of her beers. Rey scowls at him. She’s about to give him a piece of her mind, or grab the damned thing off him, but he beats her to it and takes a swig.

She sighs. “I guess since you’re never going to score a date with Hux, you deserve a beer.”

He pauses, with the bottle raised half way to his mouth. “We had a moment once. It was scary intense,” Lando says. He takes another drink. “And sexy,” he adds as an afterthought.

“It’s never going to happen,” Poe says.

Lando glances over their shoulders and a slow smirk appears on his face. “We’ll see about that.”

Rey spins around, her heart hammering in her chest when she spots Phasma and Hux walking through the door, accompanied by Ben. Finn trots in behind them, and when his gaze lands on Poe, his face lights up comically.

“Where have you been?” he asks Poe when he reaches the group. Slinging his arm around his shoulder, he hangs off his boyfriends’ side. Poe struggles to hold him up, but his face is fond. “I’ve missed you tonight,” Finn murmurs into his neck.

Damn, she really wishes she could just enjoy the party like Finn. This is beginning to grate on her nerves.

From beside her, Lando mutters, “And you thought you could use Poe.”

As much as it pains her to admit it, he’s absolutely right. Watching Finn and Poe interact in the group, it would be impossible to ignore the fact that they’re both certifiably _the_ gayest people in the room.

“I hate you,” Rey whispers as quietly as possible.

Lando doesn’t reply, but he does wrap his arm around her waist and pulls her into his side tightly. “Remember our plan, sweetheart,” he says with fake cheer. “You get me a date with Hux, and I’ll do anything you want.”

She stares up at him. Sighing, she says, “Fine. I’ll make it happen.”

Drawing her attention back to the group, she notices that Ben’s gaze has locked onto Lando’s arm. She wants to shrug him off, feeling both nauseated and guilty under Ben’s scrutinizing gaze, but she stands firm.

“Are you two together?” Ben asks, frowning.

The groups conversation grinds to a staggering halt, and they all stare at each other dumbfoundedly, not knowing what to say. Everyone is aware of the plan apart from Ben, but no one has worked out what the plan actually _is_ yet.

Goddamn. They’re going to blow this before it’s even started.

She doesn’t know if they’re supposed to be fake dating. Lando hasn’t told her anything.

“Um, no?” she says hesitantly, although it sounds like a question. She looks around the group for help, but they’re all staring at her feebly. “I don’t think so?”

Which, in hindsight, is probably the stupidest thing she could have said, because his face takes on a suspicious tilt. “You don’t know?” he asks her, eyes narrowed.

She has absolutely no idea what to say. Her mind has totally blanked. But Ben _does_ look jealous, which Rey counts as a win.

Lando sighs dramatically. “Sadly, we’re not dating,” he says. Rey is confused until he follows up with, “Yet.” He pulls her in closer to him, which makes Ben’s mouth twitch slightly. “I’ve been trying to bag this little beauty since middle school.”

“I see,” Ben says. He turns his attention towards her. “And are you okay with this, Rey? He’s not bothering you?”

His face tells her that he might, just a little bit, want it to be bothering her.

Maybe her friends were right. Maybe he does like her.

But her hesitation makes his eyes go hard, like she’s just answered his question, and the moment is gone.

“Uh.” She’s stumped, she really is. They should have spent more time talking about the plan than talking about Lando’s creepy obsession with Hux.

“What Rey is _trying_ to say,” Hux jumps in, “is that Lando has been courting her for quite some time.” He takes a nervous breath, looking around the group for backup. When no one gives him any, he rolls his eyes. “Prom is right around the corner,” he says. “Rey might reconsider and go with him.”

Even when they’re at a party, Hux manages to make the whole thing sound like a formal meeting. She really wishes that he would remove the stick from his ass.

But then again, he did just totally save the situation.

Lando winks at Hux and says, “I knew there was a reason I liked you.”

The comment makes the ginger-haired boy blush slightly, and he rubs the back of his neck, looking down at the ground.

Huh.

Maybe Lando does have a chance after all. From Ben’s other side, Finn shoots her an inconspicuous thumbs up. Poe looks immensely relieved, and Phasma is grinning widely, like she knows all the secrets to the universe. The plan is on.

So why does she feel so unsatisfied?

 

***

 

She doesn’t remember getting home, but when she wakes up the next morning and opens her curtains, Ben has written a note and stuck it to his window.

It says: “I hope you don’t choke on your own vomit.”

Which means she must have gotten _super_ drunk after they dispensed from the kitchen. She doesn’t really blame herself, though. That conversation had been tense, and Ben had stormed off immediately after Lando had ‘tried’ to kiss her. She had pushed him away with an eye roll, and he had laughed like it was some big joke, but clearly Ben didn’t find it as funny as they did.

“Crap,” she mutters, clutching her head in her hands. She glances to the side of her bed, noticing the glass of water and Tylenol.

_Thank you, drunk Rey._

As she leans against her dresser, sipping at her water slowly, she begins to remember more of the night. Groaning loudly, all of the embarrassing details begin flooding back to her. She danced in the living room with Rose and Paige – they had even gotten up on Poe’s coffee table. Lando had hoisted her down in a fireman-carry, because Poe was shrieking about them breaking his mom’s table. Someone had puked on her angel wings, so she had taken them off and stuffed them in one of Poe’s cupboards.

Damn, his mom is definitely going to ground his ass.

Shuddering, she remembers walking in on Poe and Finn going at it in his bedroom, which is a memory she really wishes had remained buried deep into her subconscious mind. After that, she recalls stumbling downstairs just as _Thriller_ bellowed through the speakers. She had joined in with the dancing as the entire party drunkenly attempted to copy Michael Jackson’s original moves.

She remembers Ben watching her with an amused expression from the side lines. But he didn’t join in. He just stood there, arms crossed over his chest, staring at her.

And then she freezes, because thinking about Ben has just triggered another mortifying recollection.

He had given her a piggy back home.

“God dammit. Not again.”

Vague memories come back to her in flashes – the way he had felt underneath her as he walked along the sidewalk; her hands wrapped around his neck; the smell of his hair; the way he had gripped her thighs firmly, preventing her from falling off.

Him taking her keys out of her bag when they reached her front door. Him hoisting her up the stairs and into her room. Him tucking her into bed. Him leaving her a glass of water and Tylenol. 

It wasn’t drunk Rey taking care of herself at all.

It was Ben.

She groans again, throwing herself onto her bed.

“Shit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, you guys voted Lando! I'm sorry to all the people who voted Poe, but the numbers were monumentally in favour of Lando :// 
> 
> I promise to do my best to do it justice though ;) and I really hope you all like where I've taken it (and where I'm going to take it). To all the people worried about the outcome of the story, I suggest you read my other fics. If you've read them, then you'll know that I'm a sucker for a happy ending ;) But I promise you that Lando's influence will definitely not hinder Ben & Rey's relationship at all. 
> 
> You will just have to put your trust in me ;)


	13. Chapter 13

Operation: Make Ben Solo’s Head Spectacularly Explode with Jealousy commences with some minor changes to Rey’s daily routine. First, Poe begins driving Lando to school alongside her and Finn, which is _not_ fun because Lando likes singing along to terrible music at the top of his voice. Then, Lando starts walking her to her classes, giving Ben exaggerated winks as they pass him in the corridor. After that, Lando plops down beside her at lunch and ends up staying for the rest of the week. Her friends accept him immediately, knowing fine well that it’s all part of a bigger plan, but Ben’s mood begins to get fouler every time Lando drops his ass into a chair.

To make matters ten times worse, Lando uses every opportunity to give her casual touches – from slinging his arm over her shoulder to wiping a bit of cake frosting from her mouth.

And after every extreme act, he turns his gaze on Ben and _smirks_.

So, understandably, by the time soccer practice rolls around Ben’s right eye is twitching and he’s glaring at them from his spot on the bleachers. She's actually surprised he's even made an appearance though; she would call it baby steps, but she doesn't know if it even qualifies as that. Paige, Rose and Hux are sitting beside him, wrapped up snugly in their woolly winter hats and scarves. They're the only spectators, because let's face it, who wants to sit outside and watch a handful of people run around on a soccer pitch for an hour? No one.

“I can’t believe I’m finally free,” Lando says from beside her. She drags her eyes away from Ben and glances down at Lando’s wiggling feet. He’s just gotten his cast off after his injury, and is trying to ease back into soccer without overdoing it.

“Don’t go too hard on tonight’s practice,” Finn warns. “We need you for the game against the First Order at the end of the year.”

Poe makes a noise of agreement. “If you make things worse, I’ll break your other foot.”

“Damn!” Lando laughs, jumping up and down on the spot slightly to keep himself warm. With the gradual change of autumn into winter, the temperature drop doesn’t make practicing outside very fun. “You’re too competitive for your own good.”

Rey rubs her gloved hands together, but that still doesn’t keep the cold from curling around her bones. “Can we just start training already?” she asks. “I’m freezing.”

Nodding dutifully, Poe grabs a few cones and jogs over to the center of the pitch. He drops them down onto the grass, and while he’s at it, Rey grabs the bag of soccer balls and drags them to meet him.

Before they begin, she once again spares a glance for her friends sitting on the bleachers. She has no idea how they’re going to sit in the cold watching the team practice. They must be freezing. Just before their last period had begun, Rose asked them to go for pizza after school. Rey thought they’d stay in the library until practice was over, but no; her friends are one dedicated bunch. Her eyes follow along the row until they finally land on Ben, and she feels her heart stutter in her chest when he glances up and meets her gaze. Curling his lips upwards slightly, he stares at her with a look that makes her exhale shakily, her breath causing condensation to fog up the cool air.

“Rey!” Finn calls, breaking the trance. She turns around just in time to see him launch a soccer ball in her direction. It bounces off her head with a loud _thwack_ , and she feels herself jerk backwards with the force. She stands there for a second, completely stunned, and he shoots her a guilty look. “Sorry.”

Cursing Finn, the cold, and Ben Solo, she jogs over to the first warm-up. She has to pretend that she can’t hear Ben’s laughter floating behind her.

 

***

 

After practice is finished, and Rey is thankfully warmer (and sweatier), her friends meet them in the middle of the soccer field. She slides over to Ben immediately, but he’s hanging behind the rest of the group.

“Hello, stranger,” she says, peeling her thick gloves off. “Why have you decided to grace us with your presence tonight?”

He shrugs casually, looking everywhere but her. “I came for Phasma.”

Rey twists her head around to face the group, watching as a sweaty Phasma laughs with Paige and Hux. “If you’re here for Phasma,” she begins slowly, “why are you not over with her right now?”

“Because you’re distracting me,” he fires back.

“Is that so?” she grins, and he nods his head, looking somber. She stares at him for a moment, watching as his cheeks take on a pinkish tint. Although, it could be a result of the cold weather. His nose has turned adorably pink, too. “Nah,” she settles, smirking at him. “I think I’m growing on you.”

“You aren’t,” he says.

She laughs loudly, giving him a soft punch on the arm. “I totally am! Look at your face!”

If it’s even possible, his cheeks go even redder. “Shut up.”

“Guys,” Rose calls from behind them. Rey turns around to see her group of friends shivering in the cold night. “We’re going for pizza now. Are you coming?”

“Yeah, sugarplum.” Lando jogs over to her and throws a haphazard arm around her shoulder. She cringes as he pulls her flat against his chest; they’re both sweaty and disgusting after practice, and Rey nearly gags as he accidentally shoves her head near his armpit. “I’m hungry. Maybe we could split a pizza,” he says, waggling his eyebrows suggestively. “Like a little date.”

Jesus fucking Christ. This boy is a nightmare.

The only thing Rey knows how to say is a long, “Umm.”

Thankfully she doesn't need to answer, because Paige steps forward and interrupts anymore stupid Lando comments. “Are you coming for pizza too, Ben?” she asks. Looking adorable in her pink hat and gloves, she hooks her arm around Phasma's and snuggles in closer to her side. 

“Nah,” he replies, looking shifty. “I have a thing.”

Phasma whirls round on him, confusion etched visibly on her face. “A thing?” she repeats.

“Yeah,” Ben says. Although, he won’t meet her gaze. “Remember?” he asks. “That thing.”

Phasma stares at him with confusion for a few seconds, still frowning, until her expression morphs into one of realization. “Ah,” she says, nodding her head. “The thing. I remember.” She shimmies out of Paige’s embrace, who pouts adorably at the distance. “Sorry guys, Ben and I can’t come out tonight. I’ll drop him home.”

Ben nods his head awkwardly, and the two wave their goodbyes. The group watch as Ben and Phasma walk away. Rey can’t speak for the rest of them, but she’s totally, utterly bewildered. She feels a sudden stab of disappointment when she sees Ben’s retreating back disappear behind the bleachers.

“Oh my god, did you _see_ that?” Poe asks, his face erupting into a delighted grin. “He is _so_ jealous.”

“One hundred percent,” Paige nods. “It was perfect.”

Rey shuffles nervously on the spot. “I don’t know, guys. He didn’t seem jealous.”

She _tries_ to think of his irritated expression when Lando approached them, but even then, she doesn’t think it was jealously. She really doesn’t know what it was. Maybe he just really hates Lando (because let’s be honest, who doesn’t?). Or maybe it’s because he doesn’t like being interrupted – Lando _was_ kind of rude back there.

She just has to face the cold, hard facts: Ben Solo is an enigma wrapped in about twenty layers of bubble wrapped ambiguities. And he’s one mystery that she just doesn’t know how to solve. One minute he likes her, and the next he’s being cold and standoffish.

“He’s jealous,” Hux confirms. He turns to face Lando, who’s sporting a shit-eating grin. “Keep up the good work, solider.”

Lando mock-salutes. “Aye, aye, Captain.”

 

***

 

Rey’s at the library the next day, studying dutifully for her midterms, when she’s interrupted by the shrill sound of a chair scraping opposite her. She’s ready to inform the intruder that the seat is taken, but when her head snaps up, she realizes that it's Ben. He’s looking at her with a sort of timid trepidation – an expression she’s never seen on the boy before. Maybe he’s hesitant due to the strange way they left each other last night. Maybe he realizes he was acting _super_ weird.

“Mind if I sit here?” he asks gently. But he’s already pulling his books out of his backpack, so she assumes the question is just his way of being polite.

Maybe the real reason he’s acting shifty is that he’s been abducted by aliens and they’ve taken his body as a host – there’s no way _real_ Ben would be this civil.

 _It’s because he likes you,_ a small part of Rey’s mind whispers, but she shakes off any romantic notions. She doesn’t want to get her hopes up.  

“Sure,” she shrugs eventually, after she realizes she’s been staring at him blankly for a good minute and a half. “If you don’t get us kicked out the library like last time.”

“No promises,” he replies, lips twitching upwards to make a kind of half smile.

_Ah, there’s cocky Ben back. The planets have aligned and all is at peace with the world._

Rey watches his mischievous smile with rapt attention, noticing all the little details of his mouth. She finds that she can’t tear her eyes away, which is awkward because he definitely knows she’s staring at him.

Damn, she really is screwed.

She really wants to kiss him.

“Do you want to study together again?” he inquires, which breaks her out of her trance. “We’ve got to ace these midterms if we want to become valedictorian.”

“There’s no _we_ in this, comrade,” Rey shoots back. “Just me, myself and I.”

Ben rolls his eyes. “Sure,” he says sarcastically. “And I’m Madonna.”

He begins to jot things down in his notepad, and Rey cranes her neck to see what he’s writing. The sums look complicated, and with sudden concern, she realizes that he’s moved _way_ past their syllabus for this week.

“Ben! What the hell?” she demands. “You’re reading too far ahead.”

“You’re just pissed that I’m doing better than you at math,” he says, with a smug grin on his face.

And now she’s back to wanting to punch him in the face. God, her emotions when it comes to Ben are totally wild. On the one hand she wants to jump his bones, on the other she wants to beat the crap out of him.

It’s really a lose lose situation for her.

“You’re infuriating,” she snipes. “And too cocky. It will be your downfall.”

He snorts. “I don’t think so, sweetheart.”

She has to pretend the pet name doesn’t make her heart race a billion times faster. She struggles to keep her breathing in check. She doesn’t want to go weak at the knees; she wants to make sure she beats the smug bastard at everything he does.

She composes herself. “I guess we’ll see at the end of the year.”

“I guess we will,” Ben says, his voice a low murmur. A beat passes. He looks shifty for a second, and she watches as a strange, wounded expression comes over his face. “Are you really going to prom with Lando?”

Her mind draws a blank (which is exactly what it always does anytime Ben asks her about Lando – no matter how hard she tries, she can’t even pretend to have any feelings for him). “Uh, I guess if no one else asks me.” She pretends to consider it for a moment. “He’s nice, I guess. And funny. It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.”

Truthfully, she makes the comment because some small part of her thinks Ben will jump up and ask her right there and then. He’ll smirk and say something like, _“Don’t worry sweetheart, you won’t have to go with him. I’m taking you instead.”_

But he doesn’t. He just nods his head, and his jaw sets stubbornly. “I see.”

For a few minutes, they study together in a determined silence. Rey can tell that he’s a little bit pissed, but she’s just given him the perfect invitation to ask her. If he doesn’t take it, then it’s his own damn fault.

She remembers Phasma’s advice from a couple of days ago. She had said that Ben would never make a move himself – turns out, she was right. He’s clearly clueless.

“I have to go,” Ben says finally. He sounds reluctant to leave, but he still packs up his stuff quicker than usual. Slinging his bag over his shoulder, he stands up and hovers beside the table, looking at her. “Bye.”

She gives him a feeble wave, but she knows that her face is etched with concern. She doesn’t have it in her to say goodbye.

 

***

 

 After the weird library encounter, Ben turns back into his old, egotistic self. He begins bringing books to lunch again and ignores everyone’s attempts at conversation (including hers). He starts making jibes towards her in class, acting like he’s better and smarter than her (he’s definitely not). He stops turning up to her football practices, and instead joins the chess society. When she asks him why, he tells her that it’s so he has a better chance of putting her dreams of becoming valedictorian in the ground.

Strangely, she kind of likes this version of Ben better.

She knows where she stands with this Ben.

Now, at lunch, he’s sitting opposite her, staring into a dusty book he had gotten at the library. For the past couple of days, she’s been doing her upmost to annoy the living shit out of him, just like old times. She just can’t help herself. When Ben acts like an entitled asshole, it’s her job to bring him down a peg or two.

“I saw you got a couple of questions wrong in chemistry today,” Rey says innocently. She licks a stripe off her pink, sparkly cupcake frosting – it’s Finn’s birthday, so Rose and Paige have made him unicorn cupcakes to celebrate.

Best. Lunch. Ever.

Ben slowly draws his eyes away from his book and meets her gaze. “I got one question wrong.”

“Yikes,” Rey says. “I didn’t get any wrong. Guess you need to pick up the pace.”

Staring at her a little intensely, he slams the book down on the table, and Rey has to stop herself from jumping at the loud bang it creates. Instead, she levels him with a shit-eating grin, so he knows she’s not going to take his crap.

“Let’s just remember who’s coming out on top in math and English,” he says coolly.

She pushes a unicorn cupcake over to him. “Have one, man. You’re wound too tight,” she says. “You need to take a chill pill.”

He picks up the cupcake and stares at it for a second, considering. Then, in an act of insane alpha-male dominance, he crushes it in his hand, balling his fingers tightly so they stretch into a fist. The frosting slowly drips between the cracks in his fingers, and bits of crumbs spray all over the table, the floor, his lap, while Rey sits there, mouth agape, watching her arch-nemesis-slash-crush act like a _literal_ psychopath right in front of her face.

Beside them, Phasma mutters, “Oh, here we go.” It’s what she’s always said whenever Ben has lost his freaking mind. When Rey and Ben had argued so much that they were practically spitting in each other’s faces during a Biology test, Phasma had said _oh, here we go._ When Rey challenged Ben to a dual after he had ‘accidentally’ spilled his drink over her math homework, Phasma had said _oh, here we go_.  

There’s a beat of silence, Hux sitting in the middle and glancing between them all like he doesn’t even know where to begin, Rose and Paige are still happily chatting at the end of the table, completely oblivious as to what’s just transpired at Rey’s side.

“Jesus fucking Christ,” Rey says, and then begins to laugh. Because that was the funniest thing she’s ever seen. “You have serious anger management issues, dude.”

He’s still got frosting dripping down his hand and into his sleeve, but his heavy breathing has calmed down slightly.

“Hey guys!” Lando’s cheery voice breaks the atmosphere. He flops down onto the chair beside her and begins digging into his burger and fries. Through a mouthful of food, he asks, “What’s crackalackin’?”

Ben makes a quiet noise in the back of his throat, and his grip on the cupcake gets impossibly tighter. His eye twitches, and Rey just _knows_ that he’s about to say something completely devastating by the way he opens his mouth sharply, eyebrows turned down into a permanent scowl.

“Okay,” Phasma says quickly, interrupting what could very well be a word smack-down. She swings her legs over the bench and promptly stands up from the table. “Okay,” she repeats. She grabs Ben by his shoulders and hauls him up to his feet, cupcake hand and all. _“Okay,”_ a third time, and then she’s pulling Ben towards the door.

The group watch them leave.

“That was crazy amazing,” Poe says, awed expression on his face. He turns to look at the rest of them. “Am I the only one who thought that was amazing?”

Finn gives Rey a sharp look. “You’re going to be the death of that boy. He’s going to have a meltdown.”

Yeah, because _she’s_ the problem here. Not the cupcake smashing psychopath.

But still, she guiltily resolves to find him after class.

 

***

 

But when school ends, Ben is nowhere to be found.

When she gets home, she runs upstairs to her bedroom and throws her bag into the corner of the room. She really can’t be bothered studying or doing homework after the crazy day she’s had – one night off won’t hurt.

 _It might hurt your chance at becoming valedictorian,_ she ruefully reminds herself.

Damn. Valedictorian. She glances worriedly at Ben’s bedroom window, but his curtains are drawn so she can’t see into his room. Feeling concerned, an idea pops into her mind. She raids her closet to find what she’s looking for.

“Aha!” she grins triumphantly when she finds her old tennis ball.

Wandering over to her window, she plants her feet and gets herself into position. She launches the tennis ball through the air, _hard_ , and it bounces off Ben’s window with a resounding _thwack_. Pitifully, though, it rebounds and lands on Ben’s roof. She watches with irritation as it rolls into the gutter and then drops into the abyss below her.

Shit. She’ll need to grab that tomorrow.

When Ben doesn’t come to the window, she runs back to her closet and grabs another tennis ball out of her pack. She repeats her actions, and again, the tennis ball lands on the grass below her. But this time, his curtains begin to twitch. She waits with anticipation as he yanks them open and unlocks his window, watching her with a look of annoyance.

“Can I help you?” he sasses.

Which, okay, rude.

“I wanted to see if you got that cupcake washed off your hand,” she grins, propping herself on the window ledge.

He rolls his eyes. “Bite me.”

 _Would love to, actually._ She runs her finger against the window. “Seriously, though, are you okay?” Her voice takes on a more somber tone, and she watches his reaction carefully.

He rubs the back of his neck. “Yeah, I’m okay. Thanks for asking.” He bites his lip and looks at her, _really_ looks at her, and she feels like he’s staring into her goddamned _soul_ or something. Her breath catches in her throat at the intensity, and finds herself mildly thinking that this is how she dies. A boy has never looked at her like this before. With sudden determination etched on his features, he stands up a bit straighter. “Actually,” he drawls. “I’m perfect.”

Rey’s eyebrows raise. “Oh!” she says, surprised. “That’s great, dude. What’s changed?”

He leans his forearms against his window, appearing suave and casual, the muscles in his arms looking defined in the long-sleeved black t-shirt he’s wearing. “I’ve just decided something,” he smirks, and Rey really can’t look away.

He’s acting coy and feisty, a monumental change from his behavior earlier. She thinks he might almost be _flirting_ with her.

“Cool.” She nods her head, trying to keep the smile off her face. “Well, I’ll leave you to it then.”

“Study with me tomorrow?” he asks just as she’s about to close her window – although, it sounds more like a demand than a question. But his expression is still playful.

Rey finds it hard to say no. “Sure.”

His face explodes into a grin. He winks at her, and she feels her cheeks heat up under the attention. “See you then, sweetheart.”


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> @Reylotonightt is my tumblr, come and say hello :)

Poe and Finn are bickering.

Poe and Finn are bickering and Rey is sitting bang smack in the middle, nervously tapping her fingers against her lunch tray. The rest of the group – only Hux, Rose, and Lando, since Ben and Phasma are in physics club – watch on with rapt attention, like it’s a goddamned tennis match or something, while Rey is _literally_ acting as the middle man.

“Wear the tie,” Finn grits out, narrowing his eyes at his boyfriend.

“I am not freaking wearing _purple_ to prom, Finn!” Poe explodes. He’s squeezing his can of coke so hard that it crushes in his palm. “We are going with the red color scheme.”

Jesus fucking Christ.

“Why don’t you make a compromise?” Rey suggests weakly. “Maybe blue or something.”

There are some _very_ nervous glances in Rey’s direction from the rest of the group as Poe and Finn swivel their outraged heads around to face her, eyes full of rage. Hux makes a cut-throat motion with his hand. There’s a voice screaming in her head: _“Abort! Abort! Take it back!”_ it says. With five pairs of eyes starting at her (well, glaring in some cases), the longing to _Marty McFly_ the situation and go back in time twenty seconds to tell herself to _shut the hell_ up is really desirable.

 _“Blue?”_ Poe practically screeches. “Blue? Are you for real?”

She gapes at him. She honestly has no freaking idea what to say to diffuse the situation. Thankfully interrupting any insults that Poe and Finn can hurl in her direction, Paige approaches the table holding a Tupperware box of cookies.

“Hello, friends,” she says, smiling widely (and unknowingly, in Rey’s opinion). 

“Get out while you still can!” Rey stage whispers to her, which makes Rose snigger from the seat opposite.

Which was _definitely_ the wrong reaction, because Finn shoots Rose a glare so cold that it makes her shrink back in her seat.

Paige takes the awkward tension with a pinch of salt, which is exactly what she always does. She offers the tub of cookies to the group, and Rey snags one quickly. “I’m just campaigning for prom queen,” Paige says after Poe and Finn begrudgingly take a cookie. “I thought I’d come by here and give you treats, since I know you’ll be voting for me anyway.”

“Who says we’re voting for you?” Poe sasses. He’s clearly in a bad mood. “I could vote for DJ and that uptight bitch, Holdo.”

“I think she’s nice,” Paige mumbles. Then she waves a disinterested hand. “But nevertheless, you’re voting me.”

“Who are you running with?” Hux asks. He seems genuinely interested, which is so unlike him that Rey does a double take.

Paige gives them all a strange look, eyebrows creased. When she realizes they’re all being serious, she says, “Phasma, of course.” There’s a brief pause before the whole group burst into simultaneous laughter, which makes Paige’s frown deepen into a scowl. “What? What’s wrong with that?”

 _“Phasma?”_ Lando splutters. “She’s not exactly prom queen material.”

Poe rips into his cookie. “I didn’t know the gays could enter,” he says, spraying his mouthful over the table. Jesus fucking Christ, her friends are heathens. He turns his attention to Finn, and Rey has to lean back in her seat so her big head isn’t interrupting their conversation. “Why don’t we run?” he asks his boyfriend. “We’re _clearly_ the most popular gay couple.”

Paige’s mouth drops open. “You are _not_ more popular than me.”

From her side of the table, Rey spots Ben and Phasma entering the lunch hall, chatting animatedly between themselves. She finds herself perking up in her seat. She pats her hair, smoothing down any loose ends to make sure there’s nothing sticking up in the wrong place. “I know!” Rey says. “Why don’t we ask Ben and Phasma?”

“Ask us about what?” Ben questions when he stops in front of the table. He swings his backpack off his shoulders and throws himself into one of the empty chairs.

He looks good today. Really freaking good. He’s wearing grey, unlike his usual black, and the tight t-shirt stretches over his muscles in a way that makes Rey shift in her seat as she watches him from under her lashes.

Instead of taking a seat, Phasma wanders over to stand beside Paige. As if on autopilot, the blond-haired girl throws her arm around Paige’s waist and gives her a small peck on the cheek.

“See?” Paige snaps. “We’re cuter.”

“You are not!” Finn argues.

Paige gives them both a flat look. “When I came over here,” she begins, and points at the two boys, “you were both fighting over your prom suits.”

“So?” Finn looks affronted – he’s literally got the biggest resting bitch face that Rey’s ever seen.

She really wants to say something to alleviate the tension, but she doesn’t want to make matters worse. She looks towards Ben and gives him a _what can you do_ shrug. He smirks at her, and when he does his eyes light up in a way that makes Rey’s heart race in her chest. His eyes are brown, but they’re adorned with golden flecks that she’s never noticed before. It’s strangely beautiful – if she can even call a guy like Ben _beautiful_.

She ends up getting lost in his gaze, which is pretty unfortunate considering when she bounces back into reality Poe leaning over her, with the vein in his forehead popping, and shouting, _“We can totally out-gay you!”_

Rey snaps her head towards her friend, gaping. “How much of the conversation did I _miss_?”

Poe and Finn are too busy glaring at Paige and Phasma to answer her question, but Lando pipes up instead. “These two bozos are running for prom king and king,” he says, jerking his thumb in Poe and Finn’s direction. He gives her a suggestive look, wagging his eyebrows. “Maybe we could run, too.”

“This is a gays only event,” Finn shoots back, and Lando holds his hands up defensively.

She glances at Ben out the corner of her eye, noticing the way his mouth has tightened and his eyes have gone hard. She doesn’t want him to be sad, so she breaks off a piece of the cookie Paige had given her earlier. The two couples in the group are still arguing, so Rey extends her arm, holding out a piece for Ben.

He looks at her questioningly, so she says, “Take it.”

Reaching out, Ben tentatively brushes his fingertips along her wrist. She shivers, thinking it’s purely accidental, but when she meets his gaze he’s watching her with a burning intensity that makes her breath catch in her throat. His fingers linger there for a beat too long and then he drags them, painstakingly, back towards her hand, snatching the cookie from her numb fingers.

“Thanks,” he says smugly, biting into it. His eyes don’t leave hers for a second.

Holy shit.

Even _she_ can tell the sexual tension between them could cut glass. And she’s always been an oblivious person. Like that time in middle school when Finn had a crush on her for a couple of weeks, and she was the only person in the school who didn’t notice. Even the _teachers_ had known.

“Okay,” Finn says calmly. “Why don’t we just admit that we’re _all_ the best gays in the school.”

Poe sniffs delicately, but nevertheless replies, “Fine.”

Paige nods her head in agreement too, and Phasma just stands there blankly, because it’s obvious to Rey that she really didn’t give a shit about the argument in the first place.

“Hey,” Ben says, tapping his hand on the table in front of her. “Do you still want to study with me after school today?”

“Cool!” Poe says, totally interrupting the conversation. “Finn and I really need to study anyway.” He gives Rey and Ben a grin. “We’ve got this big test coming up and it’s going to be super hard so we’ve been saying that we really need to go to the library and–”

Ben holds his hand up. “Actually,” he interjects. “I meant just Rey and I.”

“Ohhh,” Finn draws out, eyes going comically wide with understanding.

Rey’s face lights up, and she’s just about to enthusiastically agree when Maz’s words from this morning dawn on her. “Shit,” she groans. “I can’t. Maz asked me to help her clean out the garage when I get home.”

Ben’s disappointment is visible, and Rey feels a sudden stab of guilt. Before she can open her mouth to apologize, Phasma is yanking Ben’s backpack up off the ground.

“We need to boost,” she says, but she’s grinning at Ben’s misery. “Come on, lover boy. We have a business test.”

Heaving a sigh, Ben stands up and takes his backpack from Phasma, swinging it onto his back with a frown. After they say their goodbyes, the group watch them walk away. Despite the noisy intensity of the lunch room, Rey hears Phasma say, “Get it? It’s like that song.”

She has to concentrate on the conversation, but Ben swivels round to face the blond-haired girl and says, with full irritation, “I am _not_ Taylor Swift.”

What. The. Hell.

There’s a beat of silence, and then Lando scrapes his chair closer towards Hux. “So,” he says, throwing an arm over the ginger boys’ shoulders. “Now that Ben’s gone, how about we put our names forward to be prom kings?” He punctuates the comment with another eyebrow wiggle.

Hux rolls his eyes, throwing Lando’s arm off his shoulders, but his mouth twitches into a barely-there smile.

 

***

 

The Resistance go up against the Rebel Alliance that Friday. Phasma ends up scoring the winning goal in an impressive display of strength as she smashes the ball into the oppositions net. Rey screams louder than she ever has before and runs towards Phasma, jumping onto her back at the same time as Finn jumps onto her front. They both drag her down to the ground in a bizarre act of celebration – whooping and cheering the entire time – and the rest of the team follow, creating a massive puppy pile. It takes a while for them to get out of the heap, but when they do, the crowd has dispersed from the bleachers and joined them on the field.

“Hey,” Rey says breathlessly when her group of friends approach the team. She looks towards Paige. “Phasma was awesome, right?”

“Right.” Paige beams proudly, waving the same sign she brings to every game. “You weren’t so bad yourself.”

“Yeah, girl,” Rose whoops. “You _rocked_.”

Rey bows exaggeratedly. “I love my fans.” She glances towards Ben, whose all black ensemble nearly makes him blend in to the dark night. “And what did you think?” she asks him.

He shrugs, smirking. “Not bad.”

Before Rey can flirt some more, the rest of the team join them. They’re all sweating, and honestly, looking pretty disgusting. Not that Rey can talk, because she looks exactly the same. Lando uses the bottom of his soccer kit to wipe the sweat from his forehead, which exposes his toned stomach. Rey’s eyebrows climb high in appreciation, but she reverts her eyes quickly, and when she does, she catches sight of Hux’s expression. He’s biting his lip, watching Lando stretch his arms above his head, which again reveals the dark trail of hair there. She smirks, ready to slam dunk Hux into an embarrassing situation – and by that she means totally draw everyone’s attention to his wandering eyes – when she remembers _she’s_ supposed to be the one into Lando.

Not Hux.

She catches herself just in time, the smirk falling from her face immediately. Oops. She nearly messed that one up. When she looks over towards Ben, he’s giving Lando a glare that rivals Poe’s when someone turns off his Britney Spears CD.

He probably saw her staring at Lando’s chiseled abs.

Double oops.

“So, angel face,” Lando grins. “I’m thinking blue for prom. What do you think?”

It takes her a full minute to realize that he’s talking to her – she’s too busy ogling Ben. Rose snaps her fingers in front of Rey’s face, which makes her jump back into the conversation. All her friends – including Ben – are staring at her expectantly. Although, Ben’s face seems to be taking on a range of emotions; he doesn’t exactly look thrilled.

“Um,” she stalls. “Gold maybe?”

“Very sexy.” Lando nods his head in agreement. “Cool. I’ll get a gold tie then.” He pauses to think for a moment, before his face lights up. “Or maybe a bow tie!” he exclaims. “I would look _totally_ dashing in a bow tie.”

Despite herself, Rey laughs. Truthfully, she really does like Lando. Maybe not in _that_ way, but as the weeks have gone on she considers him a close friend. “I haven’t even said yes yet,” she says, shaking her head fondly.

 _“Yet,”_ Lando replies, with a mischievous smile.

She looks over towards her friends, completely exasperated, but they’re grinning at Lando’s antics. _Even if the whole Ben plan does fall through,_ she thinks to herself, _at least they’ve made some friends along the way._ Even Hux – who keeps giving Lando sidelong glances – has become a kind of permanent fixture in her life. She can’t imagine having lunch without him and his sassy – borderline mean – comments. Which is _so_ freaking weird considering how they started the year. Rey detested him, and now when she thinks of him, it’s almost with soft affection.

The group decide to give celebratory pizza a miss tonight, opting to go tomorrow instead, so they begin wandering to their respective cars. Rey knows for a solid _fact_ that Poe and Finn passed up pizza night because they’re going home to fuck – its written plainly on their expressions, the way they keep smirking at each other and eyeing each other up.

She’s glad someone’s getting some action around here. Even if it’s not her.

When they get to their cars, Rey pauses in front of Poe’s Honda Civic. “You cool to take me home?” she asks him.

“Sure,” he replies, fishing the car keys out of his pocket. “I’ll take Ben, too.”

Ben gives him a subtle nod and jumps in the back seat. Waving goodbye to her friends, she opens the car door, heart hammering just _thinking_ about spending a twenty-minute car journey cooped up snugly in the back seat with Ben Solo.

Poe pulls out of the parking lot, chatting to Finn in the front about the details of the game and how they can improve as a team. Rey sits with Ben in the back in silence, nervously drumming her fingers against her thigh.

Why isn’t he talking to her?

She spares him a sidelong glance. He’s watching out the window, but she can see that ever present frown on his face. She wonders if she’s done anything to upset him.

 

***

 

Fifteen minutes into the quiet car journey (with the exception of Poe and Finn chatting energetically in the front), Rey can’t take the stony silence anymore. She glances at Ben, who’s staring resolutely ahead, eyes hard and yet completely unfocused.

“Hey,” she murmurs, so Poe and Finn don’t overhear. “Everything okay?”

He refuses to meet her gaze. “Do you even care?”

The comment makes her mouth fall open, and she reels round on him defensively. “Are you freaking _serious_?” she half whispers, half shouts. “You are so full of shit, Ben Solo. You know how much I care about you.”

“It doesn’t seem like it,” he says bitterly. He squints at her, gauging her reaction.

She rolls her eyes dramatically. Channeling her inner Chandler Bing, she says (in the bitchiest tone she can manage), “Jesus Christ. Could you _be_ any more of a drama queen?” 

His shocked expression tells her that he didn’t expect her retort, which gives her a small stab of satisfaction. Freaking Ben Solo. Seriously, she doesn’t know whether she wants to round house kick him in the face or kiss him.

Scowling, Ben manages to snap out, “Oh, that’s rich coming from _you_.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?”

“Why do you _need_ me to be your friend?” he asks instead of answering her question. “Why is it your mission to burrow your way into everyone’s lives, like you actually care?” His shoulders raise tensely. “You don’t give a shit.”

What the hell is this? Some sort of attack on her character? Just because she’s optimistic and likes to make friends?

“You’re the one who’s constantly pissed off at the world, you grumpy bastard.” She folds her arms in front of her chest defensively. “Well, newsflash, asshole. Not everyone is as doom and gloom as you! Sometimes people can just be _nice_.”

Ben scoffs. “And you think you’re nice?”

“I try to be!” she says. “Unlike you.”

“I don’t care about being _nice_ to people,” he sneers. “I’m not fake.”

“Are you calling me fake?” Rey asks, offended.

Ben shrugs innocently. “You’re the one who said it.”

“Uh guys?”

Rey’s eyebrows raise furiously. “God, I totally remember why I hated you now.”

“Guys?”

“Oh yeah?” Ben challenges. “Well, I don’t like you much either.”

“Guys!”

“What?” Rey and Ben snap at the same time.

Poe stares at them with wide eyes. “Uh, this is your stop.”

Rey looks out the window, noticing finally that they’ve pulled up outside their houses. She can feel her cheeks heating up due to her sheer mortification over the situation, and she ducks her head down so that Ben doesn’t see.

“Thanks Poe,” Rey says. “I’ll see you tomorrow for pizza.”

She climbs out of the car without a second glance and storms up to her front steps. Freaking Ben Solo and his freaking arrogant attitude. She can’t believe she thought he had changed into someone nicer.

Nicer? Ben? She was _clearly_ blinded by love.

But not anymore. He’s just the same asshole he’s always been. 

She slams the door behind her, hard enough that the frame rattles. Thankfully Maz isn’t in to tell her off about breaking things. She takes full opportunity of the empty house, stalking up the stairs and into her bedroom, throwing her bag hard against her wall.

Fuck boys.

Seriously. All boys. Fuck ‘em.

She’s standing in the middle of her bedroom, chest heaving and absolutely furious, when her window slides open and Ben climbs through. She doesn’t even have time to be shocked about his sudden appearance, because he’s charging over to her with an enraged expression on his face.

“And another thing!” he barks, stopping in front of her. “You want to–”

“Hey!” she interrupts. “You can’t just climb into my room whenever you want!”

He looks at her smugly. “Don’t leave your window unlocked then.”

“Ben!” she cries. “You pompous asshole! I can’t _believe_ I ever thought we were getting along.”

“Well, it looks like you’re getting along just _fine_ with Lando now,” he says. “You don’t need me anymore!”

Thank god Maz is out at work, because she’d be calling the police on them for disturbing the peace, they’re shouting that loud.

“Is that what this is all about?” she asks, temper rising even more. “Well, if you want me to go to prom with Lando then I will! Guess you should have asked me when you had the chance!”

“What makes you think I wanted to go to prom with you in the first place?” he asks, and there’s a cruel tilt to his mouth.

Which, she admits, stings real bad.

But then she thinks about things – _really_ thinks about things. She remembers Ben’s face whenever Lando wrapped his arms around her, trying to make him jealous. She remembers how his eye had twitched; how he had stopped talking to her; the angry glares he sent Lando; the flirting in the library; the way he had looked down at her with such fondness that made her heart clench in her chest.

“Fuck that, Ben,” she snaps firmly.

Glaring up at him, she realizes how weird it is to have him in her bedroom. How weird it is that they’ve gotten close enough to climb into each other’s rooms repeatedly – not just once, but on multiple occasions.

How can he think that they’re _not_ endgame?

He frowns. “What?”

Taking a slow breath, she clarifies, “You _did_ want to ask me to prom.”

Any doubts she had about Ben’s feelings towards her crumble when she catches a glimpse of his face. He looks oddly vulnerable, and more human than she’s ever seen him look before.

“No.” He shakes his head. “You like Lando. Lando likes you.”

Rey’s mouth is very dry. She takes a second, swallowing hard. “Um, it’s not exactly what you think–”

“I get it,” he says, waving a flippant hand in the air. He unwaveringly watches her, and it’s intense; it’s too much but not enough at the same time. “But I know you like me too.”

She goes to say _‘yes of course I like you, it’s only been you this whole time’,_ but what comes out is a tentative, “Ben–”

“Don’t freak out,” Ben says with major hesitance, like he’s already made peace with the fact that she _might_ have a breakdown.

Then, without further delay, Ben reaches out, takes Rey’s face tightly in two hands to pull her closer, and crushes their mouths together.

Rey makes a muffled sound of surprise against his lips, but there’s no real heart in it, and Ben is unyielding – pushing and pushing, and her back hits the wall with a crash that’s probably audible from two houses down, but that’s a concern for later. Right now, there’s the bruising grip on Rey’s cheekbones, the clumsy shove of Ben’s lips and the weight of him pressing her up against the wall harshly, like it’s the first time he’s done this. The first time either of them have done this.

And then Ben, for some terrible, stupid reason that Rey really doesn’t understand, is letting go and stepping back – breathing heavily, flushed hot – and his words are coming out in a jumbled rush that makes no sense: “Shit, I’m so sorry – I just – that’s it done now – I just had to get it out my system – that’s the last time–”

“Yeah,” Rey agrees distractedly, hands already reaching forward of their own accord to skim over Ben’s sides, lifting up his shirt slightly to grip him by the hipbones and pull him back in. He lets her, which should be funny because he could probably bench press her weight. “Never again–”

Rey drags him back until they’re pressed together once more, and kisses him hard.

Blood roars in her ears, goose pimples erupting everywhere Ben’s hands touch. There’s a pounding in her skull like harsh punches to her brain, building urgently low in her stomach with every desperate smack of Ben’s lips against hers, every sweep of tongue. She clings to his arms like a lifeline, feeling his pulse flutter under his skin; his hands rest tightly on her waist, before sliding up until they’re pressed flatly against her stomach, thumbs sweeping deliciously against her skin. They kiss again and again, holding onto each other like they’re scared to ever let go.

Ben licks over Rey’s lower lip and then bites down, like something from a freaking porno or something, but in the moment, it just makes _sense_. A breathy noise erupts from the back of her throat, and then she’s pushing, pushing against him.

Then, with a great clatter, the front door slams and Maz is calling up, “Rey! Are you home?”

She shoves herself off Ben breathlessly, looking up at him dumbfoundedly. “Yeah!” she calls back, voice cracking, but she can’t take her eyes off Ben.

“Fuck,” Ben curses. “That was fucking messed up. I’m so sorry. I should go.”

She watches him pace over to her window and climb out, completely stunned. She doesn’t even have the energy to tell him to stop.

Touching her lips, she basks in the afterglow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO IT FINALLY HAPPENED!!!!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed the kiss and the chapter! Let me know your thoughts :)


	15. Chapter 15

Christmas comes and goes, and Rey hasn’t seen Ben in two weeks. She had heard from Hux during their groups annual secret Santa night that Ben and his family go up north for the Christmas break, which would explain why their car hasn’t been in the drive.

But he hasn’t even text her or written in the group chat since they last saw each other.

Which was when he was sticking his tongue down her throat.

She tries her best to avoid getting worked up over the radio silence, but there’s still a small niggling in the back of her mind telling her that _maybe_ the kiss didn’t go down as well as she though it had. She had expected him to text her the next day, and then maybe they could have gone on a date or something. But no. Nothing. She’s heard nothing.

“What do you think it _means_?” Rey asks the group at movie night.

They’re crowded in Finn’s living room – she’s sprawled out on the floor with Rose, and the other girl is calmly running her hands through Rey’s hair. They were supposed to have movie night at Poe’s house this time, but after the Halloween fiasco, he isn’t allowed anyone over anymore. They’re still waiting on Phasma, Hux and Ben to arrive, so her nerves have already fully kicked in. In fact, it’s probably safe to say that she’s completely freaking out.

“I don’t know,” Paige says. “Maybe it’s because he thinks Lando likes you and he doesn’t want to overstep any boundaries.”

Rey sits up. “Okay,” she points at Lando, “no more pretending, okay? Feel free to give your undivided attention to Hux.”

“Aw,” Lando pouts. “I’ll miss having a fake girlfriend.”

Snorting, Poe says, “Who knows? Maybe if you’re charming enough you’ll get a _real-life_ boyfriend.” His tone is kind of smarmy, which makes Rey grin from her spot on the floor.

The doorbell rings – she’s been waiting the entire night to hear that noise – interrupting any other conversation. Rey’s palms begin to sweat and her heart begins beating a little faster in her chest. Finn rises from his snuggled position on the sofa with Poe and heads to the front door. She can’t see him opening it, but she does hear happy voices fanning through to the living room.

God, she’s shitting herself.

She’s going to see Ben.

How will he react to her? Will he smile at her? Will he be awkward? Will _she_ be awkward?

She’s freaking out, thoughts running wild, when Phasma and Hux step through the threshold. Without Ben.

“Where’s Ben?” Rose asks curiously, voicing Rey’s – and probably everyone else’s – same question.

“He, ah, couldn’t make it,” Phasma says. She rubs the back of her neck awkwardly. “He’s back from his break away but he’s not feeling well, or something.”

Rey tries to swallow her disappointment, but it must be visible on her face because Paige gives her a sympathetic look. “So he kisses me and now he’s just going to avoid me for the rest of our time in high school?” she asks, but her voice takes on an angry quality. “This is bullshit.”

Sighing, she stands up and wanders into the kitchen for a drink – but she doesn’t miss the way her friends’ eyes follow her movement as they shoot each other worried glances. She slams through the cupboards and grabs a glass, filling it up to the brim with water.

Fucking Ben. Fucking boys.

What if he just doesn’t like her? Maybe that’s the reason he’s avoiding her like she’s got some sort of disgusting disease. He’s freaking out because he didn’t actually want to kiss her, and she’s totally misread all his signals as something they’re not. That’s the only explanation.

Someone clears their throat from behind her, which draws her out of her inner turmoil. She spins around to see Lando standing by the doorway, looking sheepish.

“Hey,” he says softly. “I just wanted to make sure that you’re cool?”

She gives him a flat look. “What do you _really_ want?”

Looking offended, he says, “First of all, can I just say I’m totally shocked that you don’t think I would want to check up on you when I know you’re upset?” She rolls her eyes at him, which makes his face explode into a grin. He holds his hands up in a surrender. “Okay, you caught me. I need your help to get Hux to like me.”

She smirks, taking a slow sip of her water and basking in watching him writhe with expectancy. “Hux already likes you, dummy,” she says after she’s had her fun. “Any time you take off your shirt he’s practically drooling.”

Simpering, he lifts up the bottom of his top, showing off his abs. “I don’t blame him.”

“Dear God, put that away.” She puts a hand over her eyes so she doesn’t have to look at him anymore. “Jesus fucking Christ.”

He lets his shirt fall. “In all seriousness though, what do I do?”

“I don’t know,” she sighs. “Maybe be sincere for once in your life? Don’t be a cocky playboy all the time?”

He contemplates it for a second. “Hmm. Perhaps.”

They go back into the living room and plop themselves into their respective seats. She glances at Lando out of the corner of her eye, snorting at his antics with Hux – he’s shimmied his way into the ginger-haired boys’ personal space, and is whispering something into his ear. It’s clearly something smooth if Hux’s blush is any indication of the situation.

Despite her worry over Ben’s feelings for her, she still has a fun night.

She really does love her friends.

 

***

 

Rey’s mood hasn’t improved by the time school starts up again on Monday. In her second period math class she arrives late and finds her designated spot beside Rose taken by none other than Lando fucking Calrissian. When he sees Rey come in he shoots her a mischievous smirk, like a complete bastard. She wants to be angry with him, but she can’t muster anything but a dirty look as she strides past her table to the back of the room.

She sits herself down at a free desk, and yeah, of freaking course Ben sits at the back too, right in front of the only unoccupied seat. She tries to shoot him a smile, but he doesn’t even spare her a glance, too busy thumbing at his cell phone to notice Rey as she plops down behind him. When Mr. Skywalker rushes into the room a minute later, bellowing about how he’s substituting for their usual teacher who is off sick today, Rey reaches a monumental conclusion.

If playing _Call of Duty_ all weekend couldn’t relieve her repressed frustration with _Mr. Kiss and Run Away_ , maybe tormenting the hell out of him can. 

Rey kicks out both of her legs and knocks them against the back legs of Ben’s chair. The class has already started by then, and Ben doesn’t respond. She waits another five minutes before she repeats her actions. Ben’s hand jolts across the page of his notebook, leaving a long, black line of ink running from the top half of his page to the bottom. But he still remains unphased, acting like Rey doesn’t even exist. She kicks at the back of Ben’s chair on and off for the next hour until she’s pleased to see his hackles rising, his shoulders up to his ears.

It’s a job well done, in Rey’s opinion, even when Mr. Skywalker stops half way through his lecture to say, “Kenobi, if you don’t stop kicking my nephews chair, I will not stop him when he tries to maim you.”

After the class is over, she tries to flee from the classroom as soon as the bell rings – to avoid said maiming – but she isn’t quick enough. She barely makes it around the corner before she’s being slammed up against the lockers by familiar hands – hands that had been wrapped around her a couple of weeks ago.

“What the hell, Rey?” Ben demands, fists clenched in the front of her soccer hoodie. His nostrils are flaring so much that it looks like they’re doing a little performative dance. There’s a cat call from someone down the hall – she thinks it might be Lando – but they’re too busy glaring daggers at each other to give a shit. “Why are you doing this?”

“Because!” Her arms go flailing, and he has to press her tighter against the locker to keep his grip on her jersey. “You kissed me and then ran away and I’ve not heard anything from you in three weeks.” She takes a breath, realizing that her words are coming out in a jumbled mess. “Three weeks, Ben.”

“What do you want me to do?” Ben bites back. “Do you want me to break up with Lando _for_ you? Is that it?”

She balks. “Ben, for fuck sake, Lando and I aren’t even toge–”

Her sentence is cut off by the ear-splitting shriek of the bell above them, signalling the start of third period. Ben straightens the rumpled front of Rey’s hoodie and reluctantly drops his hands back down to his sides. He’s unexpectedly gentle with her, despite his actions earlier, and Rey feels her heart stutter in her chest when she looks up at him.

He’s so big. He could definitely crush her like a tin can.

With the ghost of Ben’s body pressed against her, Rey feels her earlier rage cooling in her stomach. He gives her one last pathetic look and takes off down the corridor without a backwards glance and she laughs, because she realizes exactly what she has to do.

 

***

 

But she doesn’t get a chance to act on her well thought out plan, because after their conflict in the corridor, Ben stops turning up to lunch. She still sees him in class occasionally, but as soon as the bell rings he’s running out the room like he’s being chased by hell hounds. She doesn’t try to catch up with him, because she honestly has no idea what she would say if she did.

 

***

 

After almost three weeks have passed without Ben’s company at their lunch table, Rey is about to reach meltdown mode. Truthfully, she just really _misses_ him. She misses his sarcastic comments during lunch and the way he’ll help her out during hard classes; she misses walking alongside him in the corridor, and studying with him after school. She misses seeing him carrying out mundane tasks in his bedroom – from working out to doing homework. He has his curtains permanently closed now.

She just misses _him_.

And his stupid face.

During their next biology class, Rey slides into the chair behind Ben and Hux. Again, he completely ignores her, but she’s determined. More so than last time.

She plays basketball with tiny balls of paper and the little gap at the neck of Ben’s shirt. It fills her with utter delight to see how high he raises his shoulders in irritation – and probably in his attempt to stop her throwing things down the back of his neck. Rey continues on the same level of obnoxiousness in every single class they share together.

On Monday, she purposely kicks his bag away from his desk so he has to scramble to get his textbooks out. On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday she steals his pens as she’s walking past him – it takes him a while to figure it out, but he soon catches on considering any time he looks away for a second, he ends up pen-less. The next week, any time Ben raises his hand to answer a question during class she either interrupts him entirely or spends the hour duration refuting any comments he makes. Mr. Threepio, meanwhile, is sporadically proud of Rey’s newfound enthusiasm for class, but also furious at her blatant disregard for personal boundaries _during_ said class.

After almost two weeks of torturing Ben in class – and online, since she’s been tagging him in memes the whole time – Rey is sitting in the boutique dress shop looking for prom dresses when she receives a text message.

 _Okay, you’ve pestered your way back into my life,_ it reads. _Now what?_

She hollers out a loud, _“Yes!”_ which makes every head in the store turn around to face her. Her friends – Rose, Paige and Phasma – give her wide eyed stares from their positions, prom dress contenders dangling limply from their hands.

“Uh, Rey?” Rose says tentatively. “You okay over there?”

“Ben text me,” Rey grins.

Phasma breaths a sigh of relief. “Thank god he finally removed that stick from his ass, Jesus fucking Christ.”

Rey ambles over to where Paige is browsing through row upon row of prom dresses and begins to dig through them herself. “I’m going to need to look like a solid ten out of ten on prom night, guys.”

“Are we still flying solo, Rey?” Rose asks, frowning slightly. She looks a little worried, as if Rey’s going to abandon her and let her go to prom herself.  

Ignoring the Solo pun – because she definitely wants to be attending prom with _a_ Solo – Rey nods her head forcefully. “Of course we are. It’ll be fun. Poe and I have some big ideas for the last GSA meeting and prom combined, so I’m hoping we’ll get the funding for it.”

Remembering Ben’s text, she whips out her phone and types out a cheerful response.

_Come to our last soccer game at the end of the month? Hux is coming with Rose and Paige. You wouldn’t want to miss out on the fun._

Biting her lip, she quickly adds, _And we’re totally going to pummel the first order. I know you don’t like them : )_

While she’s waiting on a reply, she picks out a few prom dresses to try on. Just when she’s hung her choices up in the dressing room, her phone pings from its place on the table wedged in the tiny stall. She flings her hoodie aside in her haste to open it, and when she finally clicks on the screen and reads Ben’s text, the relief she feels when she reads the words _Fine, I’ll be there_ is completely embarrassing.

 

***

 

They don’t end up _pummeling_  the First Order, but they do triumph by one goal. 

Poe cries, because his days of reigning terror as captain of the soccer team are officially over. Rey has to admit, she’s pretty gutted herself. In the most cliché group hug, she embraces Finn and Poe, because these boys have been her rock throughout her whole life. She started playing soccer with them when they started high school together, so it seems fitting that they finish it the same way.

Phasma and Lando join them moments later, and they all laugh when Snoke – shrieking that they’re all cheaters – has to be escorted from the premises by his friends. He’s definitely the sorest loser Rey’s ever met, which makes the victory over his team a lot sweeter.

She glances at the bleachers, expecting to see Ben with Hux, Rose and Paige, but he’s not there. Her friends are clapping and cheering, going completely wild if she’s honest, but Ben is gone. She’s definitely sure she saw him during the game, so he must have come to watch and then left immediately.

Disappointment stabs her in the chest like a knife. She really thought they had been getting along again, but clearly not. Still, though, she doesn’t want to let it ruin her night. She’s just won her last ever soccer game – her last ever game in a team with her best friends.

“Guys, do you think we’ll join the soccer team when we get to UCLA?” she asks, because she knows her friends are going to the same college as her.

Poe throws his arm around her shoulders. “Oh, absolutely.” He grins at her, looking handsome under the bright lights of the soccer pitch. It’s a dry night, thankfully, so Rey doesn’t mind staying out to celebrate for a while. “And I’ll move up the ranks to make captain there, too.”

Rey laughs and pats him on the chest. “Okay, Mr. Cocky.”

“So are you all set for UCLA then?” Phasma asks them, wiping at her brow with a towel.

“Yep!” Finn grins. “I accepted the offer last week.”

Rey watches her friends from the bleachers moving through the crowd to get them, so she shoots them an energetic wave so they can spot her on the busy soccer field. They see her excessive waving and grin, making their way towards the soccer players.

“Where are you two going?” Poe’s question is directed at both Lando and Phasma.

“I’m going to NYC,” Lando answers, wiggling his eyebrows. “With a full soccer scholarship.”

Rey doesn’t want to burst his bubble and tell him Poe got the exact same scholarship to UCLA – a “free ride” as he had called it. She thinks she’ll let him have this one without making a sarcastic comment, just this once. “What are you doing?”

Lando jumps up and down, breath coming out in short spurts of fog in the cold air. “Sports science.”

“Hux is going there, too,” Phasma says, giving Lando a knowing look. “What a _coincidence_.”

“See?” Lando grins. “We’re soulmates.”

Rey raises her fist, and he bumps his against hers. “Right on,” she says. She looks towards Phasma. “And where are you going?”

“Penn State,” she says.

When Paige, Rose and Hux finally manage to beat their way through the crowd to join them on the field, the hordes of people begin to head for their cars. The group decide to go for their last ever soccer celebratory pizza, which almost makes Rey well up like Poe did earlier.

“We’re all going to be apart,” Rose says, smiling sadly. “Paige and I are going to Penn State together because we didn’t think we could go separately.”

Paige shrugs. “We’re twins,” she says. “We’d probably die if we parted for too long.”

“We’ll see each other when we come home for the holidays,” Phasma assures, walking along with their slow pace despite her long legs. “And at least Ben and Rey will be together once more,” she smirks, giving Rey a suggestive nudge with her elbow.

Rey stops dead in her tracks. “What?”

“Ben’s going to UCLA,” Hux confirms. He gives Rey a weird look. “I thought you knew?”

“Does this look like the face of someone who knew her enemy-slash-unrequited love interest is going to the same college as her?”

Hux grimaces. “Not really.”

Rey closes her eyes. “Great. Now I’m going to have to deal with that grumpy asshole for four more years.”

“Don’t pretend like you don’t love it,” Phasma smirks. “You can finally win him over with that devilish charm you have.”

Hux snorts from beside her. “I don’t think that’s right.”

Rey punches him lightly on the arm, but he’s grinning at her in that fond way that tells her he loves her really.

 

***

 

“–need to go all out considering–”

The door to the GSA meeting room bursts open, completely interrupting Poe’s introductory speech. Ben and Hux stand at the other side, panting loudly with pinkish tints to their cheeks. Rey and Poe are standing front and center of the classroom, sheets of paper clasped tightly in their hands – they’ve been preparing this meeting the whole year, and it’s definitely the most important one, if she does say so herself.

Rey gapes at Ben and Hux, surprised to see them standing in the doorway. Neither of them has ever came to a GSA meeting before, so she can’t help but wonder what’s brought on the change of heart. As she stares at them, Ben’s ears turn red and he gives her a feeble wave before clambering after Hux to find a seat at the back of the classroom.

The meetings are always packed full, so they have to sit on tables with some of the rest of the members.

“As I was saying,” Poe continues, pointedly looking at Ben and Hux. “Prom.”

“We’ve already gotten this idea approved by the prom committee but we’re thinking of something big for prom this year,” Rey says, fanning herself with her sheets of paper.

The room is super hot. Probably because there’s so many people here. Or maybe it’s because Ben has just walked in. She’ll never know. 

“Go big or go home,” a kid calls from the back of the class, which makes the other members laugh.

Poe grins. “Exactly.”

Before she can blurt out the big idea, Poe gets the class to bang their hands against the table in an imitation of a drum roll. When they’re finished, Rey says, “We’re going to set up a kissing booth and donate all the funds we receive to a LGBT+ charity of our choice.”

She holds her breath, waiting for an onslaught of negative comments, but instead the class erupts into loud whoops and cheers.

“Awesome!” Rose exclaims when the class have calmed down. “Who’s doing it?”

“We want volunteers,” Poe says, looking about the class for willing subjects. “Anyone is welcome. Apart from maybe the freshman’s cause they’re too young.” A few students give him a pout, so he says, “Sorry.”

Rose, Jyn and Kaydel stick their hands up in the air, along with a few other juniors and seniors. For the boys, Finn, Owen and Lando agree to participate.

“Okay,” Rey says after she’s counted all the hands. She glances at Poe. “That’s twelve including us.”

Poe and Rey both agreed that they couldn’t expect people to offer their services during prom – the best night of some of these students’ lives – if they don’t entertain the idea of participating themselves. So they decided to chip in and offer their lips as part of the deal.

The pair make their way from the front of the class, speech officially over, and slide themselves onto a table beside their friends.

Lando swivels his head around. “I hope you all know I’m just doing this to score a kiss from the pretentious douche bag over there.” He jerks his thumb in Hux’s direction.

Hux scowls. “You think I’ll _pay_ to kiss you? Oh, I don’t think so.”

“I think you will,” Lando says assuredly. He bites his lip, looking at Hux in a way that makes the other boy blush and duck his head. Lando doesn’t say anything else, but the look on his face is one of sheer confidence.

Her eyebrows raise appreciatively. Damn, she really wants to borrow his confidence for one day. Maybe it would speed things along with her a Ben. 

A girl can dream, anyway. 

Ben squints at the two boys with a confused expression on his face. “Wait. What is happening here?”

Paige snorts. “Lando has been trying to get into Hux’s pants for the past couple of months.” Almost as an afterthought, she adds, “He’s failing miserably, though.”

Lando looks at her with mock offense. “Et tu, Brute?”

The GSA meeting is starting to clear out now, because lunch is nearly over and fifth period is about to begin. Rey isn’t worried about turning up late to class, though – she does it pretty regularly in the first place. And besides, there’s no way in hell she’s missing this riveting conversation to discuss proof by induction.

Rolling her eyes at her friends’ antics, Rey says, “Jesus, Lando, just ask him to prom already.”

Lando nods and puts his head on his clasped hands, grins at Hux roguishly. “So,” he drawls out. “How about it?”

“If I say yes will you go away?” The comment comes across as harsh, but anyone who _really_ knows Hux knows that the small tilt to his mouth and the blush staining his cheeks paints a different picture.

“Don’t pretend like you’re not in love with me,” Lando flirts.

Which really. Do they have to seduce each other so outrageously in front everyone? Rey scowls, remembering her lack of love life with the asshole sitting beside Hux in the corner.

God dammit. Why does he look so cute today?

“Wait, seriously?” Ben interrupts, spinning around to face Lando. “You’re trying to date _Hux_? What the hell is this?”

Phasma shushes him, patting his back in a reassuring manner. “Accept it and move on.”

“Turns out pretentious twats do it for me,” Lando tells Ben. “Who knew?”

Hux sniffs. “Rude.”

Their conversation is interrupted by the bell ringing, which draws Rey from her staring contest with Ben’s lips. Whoops. Distracted again. She stuffs her speech cards into her backpack and gets out her math textbook. She’ll just carry it to class to save her from getting it out later. As her friends make their way out of the classroom, Rey has to pretend like she doesn’t see the glazed and bewildered expression on Ben’s face as they walk to math.


	16. Chapter 16

The day of prom, Rey is running around the gym hall with rollers in her hair, trying her best to avoid chipping her manicure. To her utter annoyance, Paige – at the god-awful hour of eight in the morning – had phoned her completely freaking out, babbling about how she needed help with the decorations because half her team had pulled out at the last minute.

Thus, queue super Rey and her band of merry assholes to save the day.

Poe and Rose are stringing sparkly streamers from the roof, Phasma is setting up the DJ booth on the main stage, Finn is rolling heavy tables into the gym hall, and Rey is on table décor duty. She’s made seventy swan napkins so far – although her first ten attempts didn’t go very well, so she had to sit through an intense YouTube tutorial video.

Paige and Ben have been constructing the kissing booth – already painted, thanks to Kaydel in the arts department. She hasn’t had much time to talk to Ben, since as soon as they entered the gym hall they were being tugged in different directions to get started.

She sticks her tongue out slightly in concentration, pulling the ends of the napkin inwards in her seventy-first attempt of a swan, when a voice from behind her says, “This is a good look for you.”

Swivelling around in her chair, she glares up at Ben Solo and blows a stray strand of hair away from her face. She probably looks a mess, with her hair bundled up tightly into her rollers. She’s wearing a baggy t-shirt – with an embarrassingly terrible picture of a cat on it – and sweatpants. There’s a toothpaste stain down her front.

Wincing, she berates herself for not being smart enough to ask Paige _who_ exactly she had drafted to help them out. But she also can’t really find it in herself to care. Besides, Ben’s probably seen her in worse states than this from his window view into her room.

“Hello to you too,” she grumbles, diverting her attention back to her swan napkin.

Ben pulls out the seat beside her and plops himself down, heaving a tired sigh. He doesn’t look so great himself, wrapped up in a plain tight-fitting t-shirt and sweatpants that look similar to hers. The t-shirt definitely shows off his muscles.

She gives him a once over.

Man, who is she kidding? He looks totally hot, as always. He could probably wear a paper bag and look amazing. She dreads to think what he’ll look like dressed up in his suit tonight. She’ll probably die on the spot.

He picks up a swan napkin – a pretty good one, if she does say so herself – and examines it intently. “This is cool.” He’s watching her uncertainly, like he doesn’t know how to act around her anymore.

She rolls her eyes. “I think we can cut the bullshit, Solo.”

“Fine,” he mutters. She watches with horror as he distractedly balls up her napkin in his fist – her beautiful swan napkin – and crushes it between his fingers. A moment of stunned silence passes and when he realises what he’s done, his eyes go wide and panicked. The crushed napkin falls from his hand; it’s exactly like what the gang likes to call _cupcake gate_. “Shit. I’m so sorry.”

Groaning, she hits her forehead against the table. “You’re going to kill me. You’re _actually_ going to kill me.”

He has the audacity to laugh. “Sorry. I didn’t think you cared that much about napkins.”

“These stupid freaking _swans_ ,” she seethes, “have taken me _three hours_.” The comment only makes him laugh harder, and Rey finds her eyebrows turning down into a frown. “I’m glad you find this amusing,” she snaps, but her anger is already deflating like a balloon that’s slowly letting out air.

“I’m sorry.” He tries to school his expression into a serious one, but he lets out an undignified snort that makes her lips twitch upwards.

“Cute,” she says, watching him with her head resting on her clasped hands.

His laugher stops suddenly, and he smirks at her. “You’re cute.”

Is he _flirting_ with her right now? When she’s got toothpaste stains down her tacky cat t-shirt? Her hair up in rollers? Seriously?

“Uh,” she huffs out a small breath. Openly staring at him, she feels the blood rushing to her cheeks. “Shit. I’m bad at this.”

He hides his grin behind his hands, but she can still see it peeking through. “Do I make you nervous?”

“A little,” she admits. “Okay, a lot.”

“Why?”

“Because!” She flails her arms, gesturing at him. She doesn’t know what to say to make her hopeless crush on him obvious, so she blurts out, “You!”

He gives her a flat look. “Eloquent as always.”

She’s about to make a sarcastic comment right back at him, probably something alone the lines of how his face is eloquent as always, but a tapping on her shoulders interrupts the moment. She turns around and finds herself facing Paige, who’s breathlessly staring down at her with a small frown creasing her brows.

“Thanks for the help today,” she says kindly. “You can go home and start getting ready now, though. The teachers are coming in to set the food up.”

“It’s no probs,” Rey says, scraping her chair backwards and standing up.

Grabbing Ben’s hand in hers, she drags him across the gym hall to where her friends have gathered. They’ve finished working hard for the day and are ready to go home and get started on their prom prep.

“We need to get a move on,” Rose says. It’s four o’clock, and the limo is set to arrive at Rey’s house for six.

“How the hell are we going to get through tonight?” Phasma asks, groaning slightly. She looks tired – weary might be a better way to describe it. She’s definitely not the prom type, so the fact that Paige has forced her to run for prom queen can’t be making her feel any better about the situation. Especially if she isn’t fond of dances in the first place.

Rey shoots her a mischievous grin. “We’re going to get wasted, of course.”

 

***

 

When the limo pulls up outside of Rey’s house, she’s already at the door waiting. She smooths down her red satin dress nervously, glancing at Ben’s empty porch. Phasma and Hux are over there right now, probably getting a head start on getting drunk.

Meanwhile, Maz – much to Rey’s displeasure – has been snapping pictures left, right and centre. She’s undoubtedly already taken about three hundred, but she wants more.

Thus, Poe and Finn are dragged out of the limo by the ears. Maz crowds them against the door and arranges them into a ‘perfect photo position’. At the same time, Ben’s parents come rushing out their house, cackling manically while holding a bottle of champagne.

Damn, she was right – they _have_ been getting drunk. She’s so freaking jealous; Ben’s parents are _cool_.

Ben follows after them, rolling his eyes and being a general grump at having his picture taken. From Rey’s position – wedged between Poe and Finn in front of the limo, with Maz clicking away on her camera – Ben looks _breath taking._ He looks like a model, or James Bond, or something. She can feel her mouth hanging open, but she doesn’t make a move to shut it.

He is literally hotter than the sun. Hot like burning. She’s going to die.

“I’ve got loads of pictures here,” Maz says, examining the camera intently, which brings Rey’s attention back to earth. “Oh look!” she exclaims, turning the camera round so they can see the pictures. She begins flicking through. The pictures go from Rey staring into the camera with a small smile to Rey looking away into the distance, mouth agape. “You can _literally_ see the moment Ben steps out of the house.”

Rey’s cheeks burn scarlet with embarrassment, but Maz is totally right. “Say it louder, I don’t think they heard it over there!” she hisses. She glances towards Ben, but thankfully they’re all still getting pictures in front of the house so her mortification isn’t broadcasted. Groaning, she puts her head into her hands. “I’m the worst.”

Maz laughs loudly. “You’re in love, child,” she grins. “It’s written all over your face.”

“Oh, she’s got it bad alright,” Finn adds. “Disgustingly so.”

The groups laughter draws the attention of Leia and Han, who stroll up to the limo hand in hand. Ben, Phasma and Hux are talking quietly amongst themselves, taking small shuffles towards where everyone is gathered.

“Isn’t this wonderful?” Leia asks brightly. “We never thought Ben would go to prom.”

Rey snorts. “Is it because he’s so lame?”

“Yes, it is,” Han grins, and Leia immediately smacks him on the chest.

Ben appears behind them, looking _so_ good that she can barely concentrate on the conversation. He looks at her in a way that makes her breath catch in her throat, his eyes raking appreciatively from her head to her toes.

In this moment, she realises that her and Ben could really be something special.  

Admittedly, it freaks her out a little.

Still caught up in Ben’s gaze, she shoots him a nervous smile. She can’t help but feel completely and utterly out of her comfort zone; she’s standing here, dazedly staring at him – probably looking stupid as hell – and he’s just _watching_ her.

She wants to jump on him and kiss him, or knee him in the groin, or tell him that things are moving too quickly and she can’t do this – she’s changed her mind, it’s too much.

She’s freaking out.

But she can’t back out now – she’s worked too hard to get him to this point. But he looks _so_ good right now, and he’s _way_ out of her league, and she doesn’t even know if the relationship would work outside of their perfectly constructed bubble. Flirting outrageously with him was all fine before, when the idea of Ben was in the _‘nice try, sweetie, but it’s never gonna happen’_ category.

Now, she actually thinks she might have a shot at this.

Ben Solo likes her. And she likes him. Where can this possibly go if not forward?

Except, she’s always been the type of person content to remain exactly where she is. When her parents dumped her as a baby, she settled herself into the shed and waited for them until the cops had to _forcibly_ remove her. Hell, even now, she’s accepted UCLA’s offer, when she knows fine well she could have gotten into MIT – but she didn’t want to lose the security of her friends’ presence.

She’s always struggled to take that final leap into the unknown; the leap that would transcend her life from comfortable to spectacular.

But she thinks it’s time now.

She exhales shakily, trying to calm herself down. Returning to the conversation, she glances over at Ben, feeling instantly calmed as he returns her previous smile with a smirk of his own, wedging his hands into his slacks.

She can do this.

Before they can leave, their parents demand more pictures. Leia and Maz band together to get Rey and Ben into a photo of their own – thus, they’re pushed together in front of the limo, Rey tripping gracelessly over his shoes and into his arms. Which absolutely delights Leia, and she begins clicking the camera immediately. She feels equally exhilarated and awkward pressed up against Ben’s side – his arm snaking around her waist, setting her nerves aflame. She knows her cooperation will make both Maz and Leia happy, so she smiles at the camera as wide as she can, leaning into Ben’s personal space. His arm around her seems casual, but she can tell that he’s feeling the parental pressure due to the vice-like grip his fingers have on her waist.

“Ben!” Leia scolds, peaking from behind her camera. “Stop looking so constipated.”

He mutters something under his breath, but nevertheless stands up a little straighter and plasters a half-smile on his face. It’s not exactly a massive improvement from his usual grumpy expression, but it’ll do.

Once they’ve satisfied their parents picture craze, they bundle themselves into the limo. To Rey’s absolute delight, she notices that Finn and Poe have already snuck in alcohol (Finn probably got it from his crazy grandmother; she’s pretty rad). She settles herself into an empty seat and fills her champagne glass up with the good stuff

This is seriously the only way she’s going to be able to get through this night. Especially with the dawning anxiety of having to man the kissing booth for an hour.

“Bottoms up,” Finn says, clinking his glass against hers and then draining the alcohol in one gulp. He then rips the bottle of champagne out of the ice bucket to pour himself another.

She glances sidelong at Ben, watching with a grin as Phasma begins lining up the shot glasses for him. He looks disgusted as he knocks back the first one, which makes her laugh, but he soon gets into the swing of it. She does a couple of her own, because her shot partner Finn double dares her – and she’s not the type of person to back down from _any_ dare, never mind one as simple as this.

They pick up Rose and Paige next. Poe and Finn wolf whistle as they climb into the limo, and Paige rolls her eyes, hoisting up her dark blue glittering number that she had described in the many conversations leading up to this exact night. It looks amazing on her, especially with her hair cascading down her face in loose curls. She looks effortlessly elegant the way only Paige really can. She’s definitely going to win prom Queen.

Setting off immediately en route to Lando’s house, Rey turns the music up as loud as she can get it and grins from ear to ear as she watches her friends sing along to Lady Gaga.

Ben’s halfway through his second glass, sitting next to Phasma on the bench directly opposite from Rey. He’s got that look on his face, the half-mad, a quarter annoyed and a quarter I-don’t-care thing he’s perfected down to a science. But she now realises that when he looks like this, he’s actually having fun – he just doesn’t like to show it.

Once they’ve picked everyone up, they climb out in their ridiculous clothes and ask their driver to take a picture of them in front of the park, right as the sun is starting to set in the sky – the same colour as Rose’s dress. Again, Ben puts his arm over her shoulders, pulling her in close to him, and she lets herself be dragged into his embrace. Her dress blows in the wind and glitters and Poe has that stupid bottle of champagne in his hand, raising it in the air for all to see.

The driver takes several pictures with all of their phones, and actually takes it pretty damn seriously, considering this isn’t even in his job description. He crouches down in front of them, angling the phones so the light is just right, like driving a limo is his night job and he spends the rest of the time as a professional photographer.

Once they’ve clambered back in, Finn gets the Jell-O shots out of the mini fridge; Rey gets four yellow ones, because that’s her favorite colour. Paige and Rose get pink, Lando and Finn get green, Poe and Ben get red. It’s cliché and stupid, but it gets them drunk enough to the point where pre-game has efficiently done its job.

When the limo parks beside the other ten or so that are already lined up outside the school, Rose produces little plastic flasks that she must have gotten at a dollar store or something. She immediately sets to work on meticulously pouring the vodka into each of them until they nearly spill over the edge. She then doles them out to everyone individually. Rey takes hers and straps it to her thigh garter – she had brought it because she had anticipated that her friends would try and sneak alcohol in.

The first thing that greets them after they show their tickets at the door and step into the hall is Mr. Skywalker.

He’s standing by the door like he’s been waiting for them, arms crossed, in a penguin suit that makes him look dashingly handsome under the dim lights of the gym hall. She knows where Ben gets his good looks from – although, the whole family looks like they’ve been sculpted by the Gods.

“Hey, Mr. S,” Poe says. “Looking good.”

Mr. Skywalker absently fixes his bowtie. “Thank you. Although I think Luke will suffice for tonight.” He eyes them all up and down, narrowing his eyes at their skewed appearances. His gaze stops on Ben. “You’ve been drinking,” he accuses, and Rey’s heart stops for a second, because they’re so, _totally_ busted. But Luke surprises her. Instead of chewing them out and sending them home, he sighs and says, “God. I wanna be drunk.”

Rey hoists up her dress in an un-lady like fashion, removing the hip-flask she had attached to her thigh. She waves it around in the air, and Luke snatches it out of her hand. Glancing around to make sure no one is watching, he empties the contents into his cup and then hands her back the empty flask.

She peers inside glumly. “You’ve drained every last drop.”

“Great,” he sasses, although there’s a sparkle behind his eye that rivals Ben’s anytime his dry sense of humour comes out to play. “Now I don’t have to confiscate that from you.”

She grumbles to herself but doesn’t argue. He’s got a point.

They walk across the dance floor as the lights flash and a Top 40 song blares over their heads. She can see Kaydel and Owen already over at the kissing booth taking the first shift. No one is drunk enough yet, so the stands are pretty much empty. No one wants to pay to kiss someone at the start of the night before they’ve had any alcohol. But Rey thinks it’s probably a relief to both Kaydel and Owen – they get it out of the way immediately and can then enjoy the rest of prom with their friends.

Not for Rey though. Her and Poe have the last shift, which will definitely be worse.

As if reading her thoughts, Poe turns to her and says, “I’ve been hearing some things in the corridors this week. Apparently people are very excited for your turn at the kissing booth.”

Her eyes go wide. “Crap.”

“You better pay up now before Rey’s queues get too long,” Finn tells Ben, with a shit-eating grin on his face.

Ben coughs awkwardly, and Rey can see his cheeks taking on a pinkish tint.

Jesus fucking Christ, he’s adorable.

Finn scoops himself some pink punch and then furtively dunks three shots worth of vodka in on top of it, stashing the flask back into his pocket before anyone notices. Rey grabs a handful of mini burgers and shovels them into her mouth all at once, and then grabs Rose’s flash, washing it down with straight vodka.

Ben raises his eyebrows at her, looking almost impressed by her burger shovelling skills, but doesn’t make any further comments.

“So,” Hux drawls. “What now?”

They look around the gym hall.

The song that’s on now is a boppy one, and Rey can’t fucking dance to save her life, so that’s off the table until she’s drunk enough to stop caring. There’s a table of soccer players over by the stage, so they could go over there – Lando already has, anyway. But then Rey doesn’t really want to make small talk with them right now. Hux and Rose probably won’t want to sit with them either.

So, for the moment, they’re stuck floating. There’s probably only fifteen or so minutes until the winners for prom King and Queen are announced (or Queen and Queen, if Paige and Phasma win), and then after Rey has to go onto kissing booth duty.

Damn. There’s nothing else to be done; she’s going to have to dance.


	17. Chapter 17

Rey’s too sweaty to continue the dance battle she had been engaging in with Poe, so she stands off to the side of the gym hall, content to be shovelling forkfuls of cake into her mouth. Observing her classmates as they dance, talk and sneak alcohol into their drinks, Rey grins when she sees people putting her swan napkins to good use.

Poe and Finn are still living it up on the dance floor, Paige is waiting anxiously beside the stage, Hux and Lando are making out in the corner, Rose is talking to her nerdy engineering friends, but she hasn’t seen Ben since they arrived together.

She pretends she isn’t bothered by it, but she kind of is.

As she bops her head to the music, Kaydel takes centre stage, and she adjusts the mic so it fits her height. She’s in a long yellow dress with her hair tied in some complicated up do, her eyes sparkling with yellow glitter as she leans down into the microphone and the music quiets down until it stops completely and everyone on the dance floor pauses, turning to face her with either unadulterated joy or unadulterated frustration. Poe and Finn, and the rest of Rey’s friends, join her at her side. Even Ben appears out of thin air, acting like he hasn’t been AWOL for the whole night, and she shoots him a frown. Where the hell has he been?

“Here we go,” Finn murmurs, nudging Rey in the side. He’s got his flask out wide in the open, holding it with two fingers, like he doesn’t care if anyone sees, or maybe he just forgot he had it in his hand. Either way, he’s going to get them fucking thrown out if he’s not careful. And if that happens before Paige and Phasma are crowned, Paige will have all of their heads.

“Is everyone having a good time?” Kaydel half-yells into the microphone – she must have her own flask, her eyes are crazy wild – and the crowd cheers in response. “Cool, cool, cool. We’ll it’s time for the most important moment of the night,” she taps her wrist, like she’s tapping an imaginary watch, and smiles. “Nine thirty on the dot, and you all know what that means!”

Rey snorts, because her work colleague is up on stage in front of the entire year, all their teachers _and_ the principle, and she’s _so_ wasted.

There’s another round of clapping and hollering from the room, and Kaydel smooths down her dress, face lighting up under the attention and enthusiasm.

“It’s time to announce who’s been crowned prom King and Queen of twenty-eighteen’s graduating class. Whoever wins tonight will be going home with the esteemed title, as well as a fifty-dollar gift card to the Olive Garden–”

“Damn, if I had known that was the prize, I definitely would have run,” Poe mutters, sipping delicately at his drink.

Hux scoffs. “Like _you_ would have won.” He gives Poe the sassiest side-eye she’s ever seen. “Paige is the school’s sweetheart, she’s got it in the bag.”

“First of all, how dare you–”

Finn covers Poe’s mouth with his hand, cutting off any further comments, and gestures to the stage where Kaydel is still yammering on.

“–and this year’s nominees are: Amilyn Holdo and DJ,” applause, applause, cheering, Holdo’s hand coming up above the crowd in a wave like she’s in the fucking Princess Diaries, “Jyn Erso and Cassian Andor,” applause, applause, “and Paige Tico and Phasma Trooper!”

Jyn and Cassian _may_ have a love story for the ages, and they’ve literally been dating since they were like five, but Paige and Phasma just _have_ to win. They have to. They’re doing it for the gays. They’re the first ever gay couple who have been nominated – something their school has amped up to the extreme. Rey and her group of friend’s whoop and cheer the loudest, and Paige shoots them an appreciative glance from her place at the bottom of the stage. She looks nervous as fuck. Rey would be too, if she was in that position.

“Well, well, well,” Kaydel chortles after the noise level has died down enough for her to speak, “this year’s votes have broken the record! Nearly every member of both junior and senior classes took the time to put their votes into the ballot boxes.”

Rey rolls her eyes, and she sees Poe doing the same beside her.

“So, after spending the entire afternoon sorting through nearly six hundred slips of paper,” even though there’s a definite tinge of genuine malice in her voice, she keeps the smile on her face cheerful and bright, “the winners are clear! Congratulations to everyone who was nominated–“

“Blah, blah, blah,” Rey intones, making a mouth out of her fingers. “Tell us the freaking winners.”

“–I’ve got the envelope,” Kaydel waves said pink envelope around in the air, and then makes a big show out of opening it and inspecting it meticulously, even though she’s the fucking one who counted the ballots and knows damn well whose names are written on that stupid little card. The entire room, even the people who don’t give a shit, goes mute silent with bated breath as the envelope crinkles in the microphone. She inhales a sharp and excited breath and leans forward into the mic. “Ladies and gentlemen,” she begins, like this is the freaking Oscars, and Rey for one tiny second thinks it _actually_ might be, “–Paige Tico and Phasma Trooper!”

Rey screams so loud that she’s probably deafened Poe. She keeps screaming as Paige and Phasma make their way onto the stage, and Kaydel beckons them over to the microphone with a wave. At the side of the stage, DJ and Holdo’s faces are scrunched up with fury, arms crossed, half-drunk.

What a fucking night.

Rey has literally never been prouder.

Flowers get handed to Paige and Phasma, two bouquets of bright yellow roses, and then the crowns come out.

“The queens of the 2018 graduating class,” Kaydel says into the microphone to the right, turning around to look at the pair.

Poe yells, “Speeech!” until most of the crowd are chanting it over and over.

Paige leans forward into the microphone, clutching the crown at her head, and smiles mischievously at then crowd. “Well, first of all I’d like to thank the true gay icon, Lady Gaga–”

 

***

 

Sitting on the front lines at a kissing booth is _literally_ the last place Rey wants to be right now.

She’d have asked who in their right mind thought a kissing booth would be a good idea for a fundraiser – this isn’t the 1980s in some weird, cliché high school romance movie – except, oh wait! It was totally her and Poe’s idea.

They were goddamned fools.

Rey and Poe sit side by side on the graveyard shift of the booth, equally miserable expressions on their faces as they watch their friends have fun on the dance floor. There’s forty minutes left of the dance, so no one wants to stand in line for a kissing booth. At first it was super busy. She’s pretty sure Poe has kissed more girls than Lando has at this point – in fact, more people in general – which is hilarious since Poe is wholeheartedly gay. But his queues seem to be the longest – truthfully, Rey is eternally grateful for that. So far, Rey has kissed seventeen people, including Paige, Rose and Finn. Which is pretty lame, since they’re her friends and they _have_ to show her support.

There’s nothing worse than being on a kissing booth and no one coming to your stall. That’s just awkward for everyone.

She slumps down on her elbows against the folding table, watching as couple of people wander over to Poe’s line, and waits for it all to be over. After their shift, they’ll still have thirty minutes to dance before prom officially ends. She’s counting down the minutes.

She leans her head against the table, so mentally dedicated to her own pitiful thoughts, that the sound of a hand smacking against the table next to her head almost makes her fall off her stool. She glances up to see Lando staring down at her, one eyebrow cocked.

“Here’s my dollar, Kanata,” he says with a smirk. “Where’s my kiss?”

She really wants to snark back at him, but she tries to refrain. He is doing her a favour, after all. Popping his dollar into the little tub at the side of the booth, he grins at her as she stands up off her stool.

“Pucker up, Calrissian,” she says, reaching over the booth to fist her hands in his tuxedo shirt. She plants a small peck on his lips and then reels back, laughing at his shocked expression. “Thank you for supporting the LGBT community.”

He chuckles and wanders off to meet Hux, rubbing the back of his neck. A few more people join her queue, and then a few more, and a few more. Rey interlaces her fingers and cracks her knuckles, watching Lando walk away. Then she turns to the next person in line – a shy-looking senior – and leans in.

She isn’t entirely sure how long it goes on for, but she’s really wishing she had brought some Chapstick. And sort of hoping Ben is watching, wherever he is. She’s just pulling away from a senior girl who’s been through her line twice when Poe claps her on the back. He looks at his watch. “Time to go and dance, I think.”

“Have we raised enough funds?”

Poe grins. “More than enough.”

Rey and Poe are so busy yammering, and the music is pounding through the hall, that it takes someone clearing their throat to get her to turn around.

And see Ben standing in front of her with an arched eyebrow and a dollar bill. “Still open for business?”

She can immediately feel herself flush to the tips of her ears. “Uh, sure. For you,” she manages, brain working overtime because Ben’s eyes are staring into her soul.

“Great,” he says, fishing his wallet out.

Before Rey can process what’s happening, Ben digs all the cash out, tosses it on the table without counting it, and reaches for her. Their lips meet with a clash, and he’s holding her so tightly that she can’t really do anything but go along with it. He kisses heatedly, and very publicly (which is surprising, since he’s such a nerd), and whatever else, and it’s definitely not a show of support for the LGBT community. It’s so different from their first kiss, which sure was passionate and angry and everything she had ever wanted. But this is smooth and sensual and it’s making her feel light headed and she _definitely_ thinks this is the game changer kiss, the one that turns their relationship upside down. And fuck it, Rey is _not_ going to be the only one to walk away from this kiss turned on, so she grabs Ben’s tuxedo coat by the lapels (she may have practiced the move in her head a few…hundred times) and kisses back for all she’s worth.

The instant she presses back into Ben’s hold, tilting her head for a better angle, he makes this _sound_ deep in his chest, like he truly hadn’t anticipated her to kiss back and holy fuck, now Rey is unquestionably going to die. She tangles her fingers in his hair and pulls (shit, she’s wanted to do that forever), biting down on his lower lip. Somehow, they settle into a rhythm, but its unpredictable and amazing and Rey is going to have to find a new verb, because “kissing” just isn’t going to cut it anymore, not when Ben’s got one hand splayed on her lower back and the other caressing her cheek.

And then it’s over. Ben’s mouth is pulling away and Rey is suddenly struck by the pesky need for oxygen that she had been ignoring that whole time. Which is probably why she’s lightheaded. So it’s a good thing that he stays where he is for a second, because she isn’t sure that she would be able to stand on her own without him holding her up.

There’s a second, maybe two, when neither of them move, and Rey gets a good look at Ben’s face. He’s breathing heavily, lips swollen and shiny, and his curls have been roused by her fingers, but it still looks incredible. His eyes flicker down to her lips, and for one second she thinks they’re going to go again, until someone wolf whistles from behind them (it was probably Lando – it always is).  

When they come back to reality, Rey looks around and realizes that everyone – Poe, Finn, Rose, Hux, Lando, Mr. Skywalker, the soccer team, half the high school, a few parents, and hell, Mr. Threepio – is staring at her.

Her eyes, when they can focus, land on Poe, who says a very earnest, “Dude.” Which pretty much sums it up, right there.

She glances back up at Ben, just to make sure he’s not regretting it. Before he can say anything – or back out of whatever this is – she grabs his hand. Biting the bullet, and putting her pride aside, she says, “Okay so prom is over in ten minutes and we haven’t danced yet.”

To her relief, he huffs out an amused breath. “I thought I was supposed to be the one asking you for a dance.”

“I guess I’m taking the lead.”

“Well, lead the way then,” he says, smirking at her.

And she does exactly that.

 

***

 

 _You Belong with Me_ blares through the speakers for the last song of the night, and Rey turns to Ben and laughs and laughs, because of course it is. Of course.

He grins back at her, spinning her around in a tight circle, and all she can think is  _thank god for Taylor Swift._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, that was the last official chapter! There will be one short sequel chapter but it will be super short :)


	18. Sequel

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is it guys!!! It's super short, so enjoy!!

It’s two weeks before graduation. Rey and the rest of her classmates are huddled in the gym hall, sitting on the makeshift seats they’ve pulled into the room, waiting for the name of this year’s valedictorian to be announced.

They had gotten their exam results in the week before, and Rey was unsurprised to see that she had gotten all A’s.

Unfortunately for her, however, so did her stupid boyfriend.

He’s sitting next to her now, hand placed on her knee, with that ever-present smug grin on his face. Even though they’ve been dating for two months, she still has the strong urge to punch him in the face. She doesn’t think that will ever go away.

“You totally think you’re going to win this, don’t you?” Rey accuses, arms crossed over her chest.

He chuckles softly, which makes warmth flood her stomach. “I  _know_ I’m going to win this.”

Yep. She _definitely_ wants to punch him.

She shoots him a murderous glare. “We got the same grades.”

“You don’t know the exact percentage.”

“I know that mine will be better.”

“You wish, sweetheart.”

“Guys,” Finn hisses, jerking his head in the direction of the stage where the principle is standing to attention in front of the podium. “Shut the hell up or we won’t even hear who wins.”

Rey throws her hands up in surrender, mouthing her apologies.

“Welcome, graduating class of 2018,” the principle says into the microphone. “Thank you for joining me today. I trust you all received the grades you wanted and worked hard for?”

Phamsa lets out a small, _“Yikes,”_ because she didn’t do that well in her exams.

The principle shuffles on the stage and pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose. Rey thinks she’ll actually miss him when she leaves this godforsaken place. “It’s now time to announce who will be this year’s valedictorian and salutatorian.”

She grabs Ben’s hand and interlocks their fingers nervously. They’ve been fighting about this title since they met, so it’s like the end of an era. The one thing they had in common; the start of many arguments; the thing that had pushed her to study so hard (not even for the title of valedictorian, but just to have the satisfaction of beating Ben).

This is the moment they would find out who, out of them both, is the better half. Rey certainly thinks she deserves it more, since she’s had to put up with him for a year now.

“I hope you get it,” Ben whispers in a sobering tone, which reminds her exactly why she loves her boyfriend so much. There’s no heated snark behind it, no comments about how they’re rivals – just genuine support and tenderness.

“I hope I get it too,” she replies, ruining the moment.

He snorts and shakes his head amusedly, running his thumb over her hand. They both fix their gaze back on the principle, watching as he unfolds a little slip of paper. It’s nowhere near as fancy as Kaydel’s envelope during prom, but it still gets the job done.

“This year’s valedictorian is –” Rey is going to shit herself, oh my God. She squeezes Ben’s hand tighter in hers, leaning forward out of her seat slightly in anticipation “– Armitage Hux!”

She feels her eyes go comically wide, and Ben’s grip loosens on her hand dazedly. There’s a polite applause from the crowd, but she can’t even get over her shock to join in. From the row behind them, she hears the sound of Hux scraping his chair against the floor and standing up.

As he passes, he claps Ben on the shoulder and bends down so he’s eyelevel with their stunned expressions. “Nice try, assholes,” he sasses. “Better luck next time.”

They watch him saunter down the aisle as if he owns the fucking place, sporting twin looks of disbelief on their faces. Thankfully, Ben is as surprised as she is. She was _so_ sure it would have been between them – she didn’t even consider a third party. But of course it would be Hux, of course it would, with his combination of AP modules. He was in the exact same classes as her.

She was too busy focusing on her competition with Ben that she failed to register any other potential candidates.

She glances at her boyfriend, who seems to have gotten over his initial reaction, and then lets out a bark of laughter. “Fucking typical.”

He scoffs. “Tell me about it.”

Hux accepts his slip of paper graciously (not really, though, considering the smirk he sends them from his spot on the podium).

She has a feeling that she should be annoyed by that.

But instead, she just smiles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 17 chapters and a sequel later and this little story (that was only supposed to be like 5) has finally come to an end! I just want to say thank you so much to everyone who has consistently commented and given kudos' on this story, I really appreciate all the support you have given me :) 
> 
> I really hope you liked the story as much as I've loved writing it. If you like my writing style, I have many other stories on my ao3 account, so check them out. 
> 
> Also, if you want to discuss anything about the story, or just talk to me in general, my tumblr is: bakubitchh (but it's a side blog, so I follow back on a different Tumblr). 
> 
> So, this is where I leave you guys! Please drop me a comment if you enjoyed the sequel :)


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